Howard gets his feet wet

By MARTY JAMES, Executive Sports Editor

Wednesday, August 9, 2006 1:15 AM PDT

On a scale of 1 to 10, Thomas Howard was asked to put a number on how he did in his first NFL preseason game.

Don’t go there, Howard warned Tuesday.

Still, he was generally happy and pleased that he not only got the start at weak-side outside linebacker as a rookie for the Oakland Raiders, but also got to play the first quarter of Sunday’s Hall of Fame Game, a 16-10 win over Philadelphia in Canton, Ohio.

Howard, a second-round draft pick out of Texas-El Paso, came out of it with two tackles. Besides that, he was active and around the ball in Oakland’s base 4-3 defense, which forced five turnovers.

“I got my feet wet,” he said after Tuesday’s afternoon practice at Redwood Middle School in Napa. “Hands down I feel like I played all right. There were some different keys and different reads I could have made better. I feel like it was a pretty good outing.”

The first two weeks of camp have been a huge learning experience for Howard, an All-Conference USA Second-Team selection following the 2005 season. He’s been consumed by the game — practicing twice a day, looking at film, studying the playbook, hitting the weight room, getting instruction from his coaches, and taking advice and pointers from some of the veteran players on the defensive unit.

“I thought he did well,” head coach Art Shell said. “One time he came up, took one of the big (Eagles) linemen and jacked the guy up and got off him and made the tackle. That was impressive.”

There’s a lot for Shell and his staff to like about Howard, who recorded a total of 296 tackles, 13 sacks, 34 tackles for losses, three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and four interceptions in 48 games for UTEP. He was named to the All-Western Athletic Conference First-Team by The NFL Draft Report after the 2004 season.

Howard (6-foot-3, 240 pounds) got the Raiders’ attention in minicamps during the springtime and organized team activities, which are held during the offseason. He was grouped with the first- or second-team defense in workouts at the Raiders’ Alameda headquarters. They like his coverage skills, tackling ability and work ethic. They also like that he plays with a non-stop motor.

“We want to see how our guys cover,” said Shell. “That’s why we brought him in here, because of his abilities to cover people and also his ability to get to the football. He showed that. We want to see it in an actual game situation. It’s good that we were able to do that.”

Being a rookie, it’s all about getting experience and making the adjustment to a new, higher level of football. Howard wants to be able to play at a consistent tempo in practices and games. He also wants to be vocal.

“I knew I had a good chance. I knew that if I came out and played well I had a good chance to come out and play early,” said Howard, 23, who is from Lubbock, Texas. “I feel like I still need work, that there’s still room for improvement there.

“The more times you see things the faster you react to them and the better you react to them. The more time I play the more confident I’ll get. The coaches do a good job of putting us in game-type situations out here in practice, and you’ve got to go out there and execute.

“I have to give a lot of credit to my coaching staff and to the players around me. I’m surrounded by a great group of guys who are easy to talk to on the field. We communicate, so that we all understand what’s going on — and that’s one of the biggest things that is going to help our defense improve, when we’re out there talking to each other so we know. Communicating is huge, and it’s been helping me ever since I got here and it will continue to help me as a football player.”

Howard made 85 tackles during his senior year. He started all 12 games and finished with 62 stops as a junior, and had 118 tackles while starting 10 games as a sophomore.

“Thomas is an outstanding football player,” said Shell. “In college he played strong safety at one time. He has the ability to play in coverage and do those types of things, and we just want to again, like all the young kids, we just want to keep working with them and give them a chance to grow as football players.”

Raiders Notebook

• The Raiders returned to their Napa Valley training camp Tuesday and finished their only practice in the afternoon by running in groups up and down the field at Redwood Middle School. “We haven’t done anything since Sunday night,” said coach Art Shell. “They ran well. You’ve got to do some conditioning when you think the time is right, and I thought the time was right to do a little bit today.”

• In looking over film of the Hall of Fame Game, Shell said for the most part the offensive line pass protected pretty well. “We did give up five sacks, but there were times that we pass protected pretty good and probably should have had a couple scores,” he said.

• Oakland’s preseason game at Minnesota on Aug. 14 at 5 p.m. is the debut of “Monday Night Football” on ESPN. Metrodome fans will see a familiar face. The second-leading receiver in Vikings’ history (574 catches), the Raiders’ Randy Moss will make he debut against his former team