Based on the information he has on linebacker Rolando McClain’s arrest in Alabama last week, Raiders head coach Hue Jackson said Monday that he didn’t think a suspension by the NFL would be justified.

Jackson admitted his decision to let McClain play Sunday in the Raiders’ 34-14 loss in Miami was “a close call for me. Very close.”

The NFL is conducting an investigation of Wednesday’s incident in which McClain allegedly put a gun to a former high school basketball teammate’s head and fired a shot past his ear. The linebacker was arrested Thursday on misdemeanor assault, firearms and other charges in his hometown of Decatur, Ala. McClain declined to comment Monday.

Jackson and several players said McClain’s troubles were not a distraction for the team and had nothing to do with the one-sided loss to the Dolphins. Miami had a 34-0 lead before the Raiders scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

When all the facts in the case are known, Jackson said, “I think maybe … we’ll all feel different about it.”

Initially, Jackson had expressed disappointment in McClain’s conduct, but after talking to him and conducting his own “fact-finding,” he said he thought McClain was caught in the wrong place “at the wrong time.”

If the NFL suspends the second-year linebacker, who played on Alabama’s 2009 national championship team and was the eighth pick in the 2010 draft, Jackson said he would “come down hard” on him because “that would mean that someone’s not being truthful.”

In the meantime, he said, “I’m taking a stand behind my player.”

There’s no telling how soon the NFL will rule on McClain. In an e-mail, league spokesman Greg Aiello said, “We are monitoring the law enforcement investigation. Our timetable will depend on the outcome of that.”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/05/SPV71M8NDE.DTL

Next man up!

How is it that the big guy who actually beat the crap out of the little guy rolled over on McClain and got less jail time? They must of had proof that McClain did indeed fire the weapon near this dudes head.