Never fear, Lane is here.

Lane Kiffin told Bay Area News Group-East Bay columnist Cam Inman that Cable deserves to keep his job at least through next season and seemed surprised by the ESPN story, calling Cable “a first class coach and a great person.”

This is the same Kiffin still involved in a process attempting to recover the remainder of his 2008 salary for being fired “with cause” and parlaying his ouster into a better gig at the University of Tennessee.

Kiffin’s support will either be a strike against Cable or have no impact at all. It surely isn’t going to help, although from the sound of it Kiffin would surely consider Cable for a job on his staff should he suddenly become available.

A link to Inman’s column is here.

– Starting defensive left end Greg Ellis, who has been hobbled for the past few weeks with what was described as an arthritic knee, will have arthroscopic knee surgery this week. There was no estimate how long Ellis would be out.

The Raiders don’t play until Nov. 15, when they host the Kansas City Chiefs. Ellis, 34, had four sacks after signing as an unrestricted free agent and is considered one of the leaders in the locker room.

Running back Darren McFadden had arthroscopic knee surgery, was inactive for the last four games, and hopes to return for the Chiefs game.

– The good news is that with Ellis playing sparingly against San Diego, rookie defensive end Matt Shaughnessy had a breakout game with a sack, two tackles for losses and five tackles. Cable said Shaughnessy was “terrific” against San Diego and will assume a starting role.

– Cable said the bye week would be used for healing and self-scouting, and that any lineup changes would have more to do with healthy players returning than bringing in some new faces.

When asked if the Raiders might consider veteran Chris Chambers, released by San Diego, Cable said, “I don’t think so at this point with who we have.”

The Raiders will practice Wednesday and Thursday this week then take the weekend off before beginning preparations for Kansas City. Among those injured players who will be limited and in theory would stand a chance of facing the Chiefs are left guard Robert Gallery (fibula), wide receiver Chaz Schilens (foot) and McFadden.

Defensive tackle Gerard Warren will also be limited with a foot bruise as will Nick Miller (tibia), who Cable hopes will provide competition for Jonathan Holland as kickoff return specialist.

Those a little behind and listed as “day-to-day” are right tackle Cornell Green (calf), tight end Tony Stewart (pectoral) and starting strong side linebacker Jon Alston, who has a neck injury and “slight”“concussion. Given that it is Alston’s second concussion since Oct. 11, he’ll be watched closely.

Linebacker Ricky Brown (ankle) was still in a cast Monday, hopes to get it off this week, but won’t practice.

– Cable believes if McFadden, Gallery, Green and Schilens were to all return, the Raiders would have a much different look.

“You’re going to get two starting offensive linemen back, you’re going to get a starting tailback back, arguably your best receiver back, another kick returner in Nick Miller back,” Cable said. “I think all those things are conducive to us having a little better success offensively so we’re going to start with that.”

Schilens, in particular, is being counted on to rescue a non-productive receiving corps more than any 15-catch rookie receiver in NFL history.

“If you remember when they all kind of went bang, bang, bang and it started with Chaz, losing him in the preseason. In the preseason game against Dallas, I think we scored 31 points with him in the lineup,” Cable said. “Now, I’m not saying that we’re going to score 31 points every time but it gives us a guy who has proven it. Last year, particularly in the last few weeks, he came on as a football player and I thought he picked it up in camp where he left off.”

OK, let’s hold it a minute while my brain bleeds out my ears. Schilens played the first quarter against Dallas, catching five passes and drawing a pass interference penalty. When he left the game, the Raiders trailed the Cowboys 7-3. Schilens was having a great camp, if his foot holds up he could still have an excellent second half of the season, but let’s keep it in perspective.

– Cable was pleased with the game plan and effort of the Raiders against San Diego, but said the lack of “big chunk” plays in the passing game were ultimately their undoing. He praised the game management and demeanor of quarterback JaMarcus Russell, while at the same time conceding the quarterback missed some key throws and noting “We got 16 points, really, without any passing game.”

– Defensively, Cable and strong safety Michael Huff said the Raiders essentially were thinking too hard in the first half and confusing each other with defensive audibles as San Diego piled up 254 yards of total offense.

In the second half, the Raiders kept it basic, utilized a lot of man-to-man defense and got after the Chargers, holding them to less than 100 yards and a single field goal.

“We probably overcooked it a little bit,” Cable said.

Although Rivers was forced into one incompletion by a blitzing Stanford Routt, Huff said the Raiders mostly showed blitz but then played it straight up.

– Murphy and Johnnie Lee Higgins (and not Darrius Heyward-Bey, as I erroneously posted Sunday andlater corrected) had an unwanted highlight when they tripped over each other while split wide right on a play which led to a Russell sack.

“One of them was too fast coming underneath to rub for the other,” Cable said.

Said Murphy: “`Everybody’s making a big deal about that. I heard some of my teammates said they showed it on TV. Actually, I had an inside release, and Johnnie an outside release and we ran into each other. I mean, it happens.

“You can find anything to pick out at the end of the game, but you know, at the beginning of the season, fourth-and-14, was a different story. So it is what it is. Sometimes it happens like that.”

– Cable said the Raiders twice burned time outs _ once after a television time out _ because the microphone in Russell’s helmet was shorting out.

– On the Raiders’ final offensive snap, a hook and lateral designed for Higgins to pitch to Heyward-Bey running to his right, Cable said Russell waited to long to throw the ball, throwing off the timing of the play.

“It was just thrown late,” Cable said. “When Johnny was ready to catch it, Darrius was too close to him. Not enough timing in terms of the catch and the flip.”

The painful part to Cable was that the route for Heyward-Bey to the end zone appeared to be open.

“Another one of those, `almost . . . ,” Cable said.

CABLE ISSUE COULD GO EITHER WAY

The hot off the press releases from the Raiders regarding the ESPN story and allegations of violence toward women by Cable leave plenty of room for both his dismissal and for serving out the rest of the season and possibly beyond.

Release No. 1 makes it sound as if the Raiders feel there is validity to the stories, Cable is as good as gone.

Release No. 2 makes it clear they’re not going to believe it simply because ESPN reported it.

Either way, the fact that the Raiders are publicly recognizing it as an issue means Cable’s continued employment through the season is far from a slam dunk.

STATEMENT ABOUT ALLEGATIONS

Over the last few days, we learned of the allegations made against Coach Cable and we are, of course, aware of of his response thereto. In conjunction with the League office, we will undertake a serious evaluation of this matter.

We wish to be clear that we do not in any way condone or accept actions such as those alleged.

There have been occasions on which we have dismissed Raider employees for having engaged in inappropriate conduct. For reasons of privacy, we kept the basis for those dismissals confidential. We endured public opprobrium for the dismissals, all the while knowing our basis for them was appropriate.

STATEMENT ABOUT ESPN

ESPN’s role in this matter must be carefully examined. ESPN routinely disseminates falsehoods about the Raiders. During the last year, ESPN (working with someone who was in this organization) engaged in a calculated effort to distort the truth about the Raiders, utilizing lies and innuendo.

To summerize, Cable said he hasn’t talked to the NFL, hasn’t talked with Al Davis about the story and when asked about his future and job security said, “I’m coaching the Raiders and I think my future is to be coach of the Raiders.”

What players there were in the locker room reacted to questions about Cable’s latest situation much as they did queries about the alleged assault on assistant Randy Hanson _ with a “none of my business” indifference.

Taking a 2-6 record into the bye week is enough to worry about.

“I didn’t see so I don’t really know, but at this point it’s just allegations, so until something concrete comes out, I don’t really have any thoughts on it,” defensive end Jay Richardson said.

Rookie wide receiver Louis Murphy said he was too busy to get into the domestic history of his head coach.

“It really hasn’t been a distraction for me because I really don’t watch TV,” Murphy said. “I’m still a rookie. I’m getting adjusted to the 12, 13 hour days, so by the time I get home, it’s shut eye for me. I just hope that the media, it doesn’t take over our team and I know we have are a real good core group of team leaders so I don’t think it will affect our team that much.”

Said tight end Zach Miller: “With the Randy Hanson thing early in the season it’s the same thing along those lines. We’re not thinking about it and we’re not worried about the outside distractions. We’re just focused on being a better football team.”

Asked if he was surprised by the ESPN “Outside the Lines” story, Miller wouldn’t bite.

“The things that get brought up in the media, I don’t know what the reasons are for it, things that have happened in the past,” Miller said. “That’s for you guys to make the story out of it. I’m not worried about it. I’m not getting into it.”

Football news to come shortly . . .

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports veteran wide receiver Chris Chambers, who reached up and grabbed a 20-yard pass from Philip Rivers while looking directly into the sun and being tightly covered by Nnamdi Asomugha, was cut Tuesday.

It was the only completion Asomugha surrendered all day.

“Chambers said that he couldn’t even see the ball,” Asomugha told reporters afterward. That’s what Philip does. Every time I play him, if he throws one ball at me, it’s going to be that back-shoulder fade because he knows it’s the toughest to cover of any route that you could possibly give a man-to-man corner.

“He throws it with the best of them. He told me after the game, it’s always that route that he’s looking for. So, it was tough. And it just missed my hand, too. You don’t have time to look back for it, all you have to do is put a hand there. But it happens.”

Chambers is subject to waivers because he was let go after the trade deadline. It would cost the Raiders $2.4 million to sign him for the rest of the season, making it unlikely they’d make a move until they could sign him to a new contract.

In his 10th season, Chambers has 482 career receptions for 6,827 yards (14.2 yards per catch) and 53 touchdowns. He has nine catches for 122 yards this season _ which would place him second among Raiders wideouts _ but lost his starting job to Malcom Floyd.

More to come following Tom Cable press conference . . .

McFadden was put through the paces by a member of the athletic training staff for the second time _ he was also worked out Friday. There were no full-on sprints, but McFadden was working hard enough to be breathing heavily when it was over.

“We went out there today and worked on cuts. I was kind of winded,” McFadden said. “That was one of the main things, see if I can get out there and do a little running around and get good footing.”

McFadden believes returning for the Kansas City game on Nov. 15 is “realistic. That’s what we’re shooting for. We’re pushing for it.”

With the Raiders scheduled to take today off, practice Wednesday and Thursday then adjourn for the weekend, many players are making plans to go home. McFadden will remain in the area, rehabbing his knee.

McFadden thinks he’s starting to see progress in a struggling offense.

“I feel like we’ve been making improvements, opening holes, starting to complete some passes,” McFadden said. “It’s a small improvement but it’s going forward.”

More to come after Tom Cable’s press briefing . . .

– Raiders hit midseason at 2-6, and it’s getting more and more like the movie “Groundhog Day.” They were 2-6 in every season dating back through 2003, except for in 2005, when they were 3-5.

The coach that year was Norv Turner, who now has six wins in six games against the Raiders after winning nine times in 32 games as coach of the Raiders.

– Much improved effort from quarterback JaMarcus Russell, and the very fact that I typed those words demonstrates how low the bar is set for the Raiders passing offense.

His first interception, headed toward Zach Miller surrounded by powder blue San Diego jerseys, led to the Chargers first touchdown. He completed 14 of 22 passes for 109 yards. He was lucky a first-and-10 forced pass late in the game wasn’t intercepted when the Raiders got a field goal.

Russell completed just two passes in eight attempts to wide receivers for 16 yards, and coach Tom Cable so distrusted the passing offense he put the game in the hands of his defense and Sebastian Janikowski rather than Russell.

And it was the right thing to do.

“I did a pretty good job,” Russell told reporters. “When it all boils down to it, you had a chance at the end to try and win. Didn’t do too much damage with the interception. No matter what happened, I think we came out and fought despite the score and just kept pushing and just came out short in the end.”

Cable thought Russell responded in a positive manner to last week’s benching in leading the Raiders to 16 points and their fifth game of the season with less than 200 yards of total offense.

“I thought he did some really good things that way today,” Cable said. “Very much seemed to be in control today. A couple of throws hed probably like to have over again but for the most part he gave us a chance to win today and that’s what you ask your quarterback to do.”

– We pause for the weekly Cable controversy.

Has there ever been a coach who came out of nowhere with a regular guy persona who ended up as such a lightning rod for unflattering stories? The latest was ESPN’s Outside the Lines allegation that Cable has a history of violence with women, one which his agent, Don Yee, disputed through a press release in a story by the Associated Press.

Cable declined comment after the loss to the Chargers, but intimated during his postgame press conference that it could be connected to the Randy Hanson affair.

“Who knows, maybe they’re tired together” Cable said. “That’s really all I can say about it. I gave an earlier statement that was released and I want to stand by that.”

Fair or not, the formerly anonymous Cable is now an ogre to many. A scuffle in the high-testosterone environment among coaches in training cap is one thing, allegations of striking women is something else entirely.

Cable was backed in a statement by his second wife despite mention of physical abuse in their divorce proceedings. Those who went on record were his first wife regarding incidents that allegedly occurred 20 years ago and a jilted former girlfriend not long after Cable married someone else.

Put it all together, and like the Hanson affair, there’s cause for reasonable doubt.

Except in the court of public opinion, which is far less stringent.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the NFL will monitor all situations, but Cable’s biggest concern at 2-6 at midseason is in the Court of Al.

– Back to our regular-scheduled Week 8 program . . .

– The Raiders had four scoring drives (three field goals and a touchdown) and needed 30 plays to travel only 103 yards on short fields to score.

San Diego had four scoring drives (three touchdowns and a field goal) and gained an even 300 yards on 37 plays.

Oakland has to work impossibly hard to score because of the lack of a passing game, while Philip Rivers throws completions to Vincent Jackson (in the first half, anyway), seemingly at will.

– The Raiders first half of the season, in a nutshell, came on second-and-28 on their last possession. Louis Murphy and Darrius Heyward-Bey, seemingly not much better in Week 8 as rookies than they were in Week 1, are lined up side-by-side. Their feet tangle, they fall to the ground, and Russell is sacked for a 3-yard loss by Shawne Merriman.
(Correction: Receivers were actually Murphy and Johnnie Lee Higgins, the latter lined up in the slot. Heyward-Bey was on opposite side.)

– Yes, you heard Mario Henderson’s name called today because Merriman beat him for his first sack of the season. And it was the first time you heard it for that reason in eight games.

Pretty clear at this point that Henderson’s less than stellar practices performances under Lane Kiffin were due in large part to a coach who used him as a press pinata rather than working on developing him as a player. Al Davis was right on this one. Henderson had potential. Remember when left tackle was a big problem? Now it’s right tackle, with Khalif Barnes struggling again Sunday and Cornell Green possibly back after the bye.

– Another young talent emerged in defensive end Matt Shaungnessy. Cable was talking two weeks about about how Shaughnessy, Desmond Bryant and Trevor Scott were being afforded the “education of a lifetime” working with Richard Seymour and Greg Ellis on a daily basis. Another potential winner by A.D., whose supporters just hate it when all his successes over the last six years aren’t duly noted.

With Ellis’ playing time cut back because of an arthritic knee, Shaughnessy had one of the best game by a young Raiders lineman in recent memory with five tackles, a sack, two tackles for losses and a quarterback hurry. He played with great range, as well venturing far downfield on some plays.

– Justin Fargas gained some brutally tough yards in the Chargers red zone and got the payoff with a 3-yard touchdown run, his first in 115 carries dating back to last season. He finished with 59 yards in 18 carries, and the grim truth is that as proud as the Raiders were of “getting after it” physically against San Diego, they had just 99 yards on 27 carries. Erase a 12-yard reverse by Murphy and there was no gain longer than seven yards.

– Jonathan Holland broke a kickoff return 60 yards, a welcome sight for a team which has struggled all season to get past the 20.

– Janikowski connected on all three of his field goal attempts and is 12-for-12.

– Down by eight with 4:36 left, Russell can make a statement about his development on this drive. Raiders are at their own 26.

Russell completes a 15-yard pass to Zach Miller, Oakland gets as far as Oakland 46, must call time out on fourth-and-7, hits Miller again for a first down.

Raiders self-destruct. Shaun Phillips gets sack, Russell fumble. Officials’ review? Was his arm coming forward? Nope.

Louis Murphy-DHB play Two Stooges on pass pattern, colliding as Merrriman gets second sack. Trick play, JLH hook-lateral to DHB fails. Higgins bats ball back, incomplete. Tried to touch pass rather than catch and lateral.

Raiders will have to be content to cover.

That’s 13 in a row over the Raiders, who are 2-6 at the bye. Some players (Chaz Schilens, Robert Gallery, Darren McFadden, Cornell Green) could return on Nov. 15 when they host Kansas City.

As for head coach Tom Cable, his status will be heavily speculated upon following latest ESPN report documenting a “history of violence toward women.”

– Raiders defense allows Chargers to drive downfield after two superb possessions, but stiffens with Michael Huff breaking up a third-and-goal pass from Rivers to Jackson in the end zone. Nate Kaeding converts the field goal attempt from 23 yards.

Chargers countered Raiders field goal with field goal of their own, and took 7:L56 off the clock in the process.

Raiders have 4:43 left and trail 24-16.

– Third-and-8 penalty by Louis Murphy for false start is costly. On third-and-13 from the 21, Russell pass to Fargas two yards shy.

Janikowski converts third field goal of the day, this one from 28 yards. Raiders within 21-16.

– Louis Murphy reverse puts Raiders at San Diego 18-yard line on last play of quarter. Raiders driving nicely following Gary Russell fumble recovery. JaMarcus Russell gets lucky with careless first-and-10 pass which Eric Weddle can’t handle.

Really need a touchdown here. Third quarter defense was among best of the season in every area.

– Stanford Routt blitzes and forces a third down incompletion from Rivers. Raiders get ball back and desperately need to make a play in the passing game. Instead, Russell sacked on third down when Zach Miller never sees blitzing safety Steve Gregory.

Huge break _ Sproles fumbled ball away to Gary Russell.

– Seabass converts 41-yard field goal, capping 29-yard, eight-play drive, getting another three points out of prime field position. Raiders scoring drives have totaled 60 yards and 19 plays for a touchdown and two field goals.

By contrast, the Chargers three scoring drives _ all touchdowns, have gained 217 yards in 22 plays.

– Nice play by free safety Michael Huff to break up Rivers’ third down pass on San Diego’s first possession in the second half.