Post by TheShadow on Dec 4, 2003 18:45:40 GMT -5
www.bayarea.com
By Dennis Georgatos
Mercury News
When Teyo Johnson stopped at a sandwich shop for lunch, workers and fellow customers began peppering the Raiders' rookie tight end with questions about Coach Bill Callahan's lambasting of his mistake-plagued team.
``Everybody's asking me how come our coach called us dummies when that really wasn't what happened,'' Johnson said. ``What he said was in terms of our play, so it was nothing personal.''
The fallout, at least among the players available during Wednesday's open locker room session, seems to have softened since Callahan complained, ``We've got to be the dumbest team in America in terms of playing the game,'' after Sunday's 22-8 loss to Denver.
Running back Tyrone Wheatley and wide receiver Jerry Porter said Callahan's comments were taken out of context in some reports.
``You've got to take the sense out of the nonsense and move forward,'' Porter said.
Cornerback Charles Woodson and wide receiver Tim Brown were among the players who fired back at Callahan after hearing of the postgame remarks.
Neither Woodson nor Brown made himself available Wednesday, the first day of player access since a meeting Monday in which Callahan told players he never questioned their intellect, only their shoddy play. Several penalties and other mistakes effectively killed the Raiders' chances against the Broncos.
``I think guys got stuff off their chest and everybody came away satisfied with where we stand as a football team,'' Johnson said of the team's meeting with Callahan. ``Everybody has just got to take accountability.''
Quarterback Rick Mirer said, ``The man was right,'' about his evaluation of the Broncos game.
``The mistakes, the penalties, stuff like that, it hurts you bad,'' Mirer said. ``How you handle all that, I'm not going to comment on that. We just need to play better. I think we all, as pros, understand that.''
Callahan said as far as he's concerned, his outburst and players' reactions to it are history.
``I said what I said, and we've moved on,'' Callahan said.
• Defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield had his first full practice since aggravating an ankle sprain Oct. 20 against Kansas City. Stubblefield, who has missed the past five games, should be available in Pittsburgh, barring any setbacks in practice the rest of this week, Callahan said. Stubblefield is officially listed as questionable on the injury report.