Campbell must plan for post-Raiders future

Injured Oakland quarterback Jason Campbell discussed on Friday the stunning turn of events that have put his future in flux Friday with a Bay Area radio station.

Campbell stayed his usual classy course. He did admit he was stunned by this week’s events. Campbell is the NFL’s current poster boy for how brutal and unforgiving the league can be as a business.

Campbell, 29, was enjoying success in his second season as the Raiders’ quarterback. The free-agent-to-be was likely on his way to earning a contract extension. Then he broke his collarbone last Sunday. Everything changed.

[+] Enlarge AP Photo/Ben MargotJason Campbell's future is up in the air after breaking his collarbone against the Browns.In an attempt to save the season, the Raiders committed to Carson Palmer for the long term by giving up a first-round pick in 2012 and a second-round pick that could become a first-round pick in 2013. Palmer, who’ll be 32 in December, is under contract in Oakland through the 2014 season. Assuming Palmer doesn’t suffer a major injury, there won’t be a starting job in Oakland for Campbell when he heals.

Campbell was recuperating from his Monday surgery when he watched the Raiders’ news conference announcing the Palmer trade Tuesday afternoon. Before the trade, Campbell had hope he could return in as soon as six weeks, although that appeared to be a very optimistic view.

“I was halfway still on pain medicine,” Campbell said of learning of the trade. “It was kind of a moment of silence. My fianc?e looked at me to see if I was going to say something. There's different things that go through your mind but you don't want to fill your mind with those thoughts.”

Campbell said he will continue to stay positive.

"As a player in this league, you can't worry about the things that go on from a business side of it, the political side of it," Campbell said. "You know what you're worth, you know what you've done to help the franchise you've got here, and put us in the position we're in now."

Campbell said he discussed the situation with Oakland coach Hue Jackson on Friday. He said Jackson gave him reassurance.

"He was like, 'I still believe in you,” Campbell said of his chat with his coach. “We brought you here, and you've done everything we've asked you to do, you know, helped turn the franchise around. You're winning, you're playing good.'

"And he was like, 'Don't get frustrated and get caught up into the things that are being said as far as a political standpoint and what you're hearing from a day-to-day basis. Just focus on getting back healthy and move forward.'"

That’s great, but with Palmer now in Oakland, the only thing Campbell can realistically do is plan for his post-Oakland future.

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Jahvid Best's history makes future unclear

Amateur doctors can look at the facts of Jahvid Best's concussion history. They are documented. One resulted from a frightening fall while playing at Cal in 2009. Two have come in the past two months for the Detroit Lions, following hits that were mild enough to go unnoticed while watching the game live. 2011 STATS

We can look at those facts, fear for Best's long-term health and wonder if he should take some substantial time away from the game to evaluate his future.

At the same time, of course, we have no idea about the circumstances of Best's current condition. Are his symptoms mild? Severe? Have his test results looked good? Are they alarming? So from this vantage point, it's difficult to do anything other than await word from Best himself.

(On Wednesday, Best tweeted: "Thanks for all your tweets and prayers. I'm taking everything one day at a time.")

It's worth noting, however, that Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com reported that people close to Best are "expressing concern" about playing again this season. Presumably, those people know more about the specific circumstances of this concussion than we do. They could also be people who love him and simply don't want to see him in harm's way anytime soon.

All of this is to say that we should take Best's situation very, very seriously. No one is trying to raise alarms. In truth, we don't even know for sure that he won't play Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, even though it seems pretty unlikely at the moment. His history, combined with still-emerging concerns about the long-term affects of concussions, simply makes this a complex issue that isn't likely to go away anytime soon.

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Vincent Jackson: Chargers still an option for future

Published: December 14th, 2010 | Tags: Vincent Jackson, Fran Charles, NFL Total Access, San Diego Chargers

Chargers WR Vincent Jackson joined Fran Charles to discuss getting back on the field this season, the play of QB Philip Rivers and whether he thinks he could be back in San Diego next season.

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