With the Raiders unexpectedly yanking quarterback Jason Campbell for Bruce Gradkowski and then apparently doctoring the post-game quotes from coach Tom Cable to suggest . . . well, something, we’re picking up strong indications of a potential locker-room problem between Campbell and Gradkowski.
Campbell perceives, we’re told, that Gradkowski actively has lobbied quarterbacks coach Paul Hackett, who worked with Gradkowski in Tampa, to give Gradlowski a chance to play.
Gradkowski got that chance on Sunday, and he made the most of it in a come-from-behind win over the Rams.
Whether Campbell’s perception is accurate doesn’t matter. It’s the kind of thing that could create trouble between the two quarterbacks, sparking an atmosphere much different than the whole Warner Brothers polite gophers vibe in Philly. It also could, as other situations like this have done, spread to the locker room.
In Oakland, the potential dysfunction arguably wouldn’t even qualify as typical dysfunction. But dysfunction it still is, and it comes at a time when the Raiders supposedly had found an answer at the quarterback position.
The challenge for Cable will be to come up with a way to contain the situation before it becomes a problem. And it likely will require an approach far more subtle than accidentally breaking someone’s jaw.