PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : RAIDERS : Robinson: Don’t Blame Me

Greg Robinson wants to carry the ball for the Raiders.

But he refuses to carry the blame for an anemic running game.

With tailback Nick Bell sidelined much of the season because of leg injuries, the primary ballcarrier has been Robinson, an eighth-round draft choice who figured to get an easy workload in his first professional season.

Instead, Robinson has carried 92 times for a team-leading 264 yards, averaging 2.9 per carry.

That hasn’t been enough for a running game that has become the weak link in the Raider offense, but Robinson shuns any thoughts of personal pressure.

“I don’t think I have to be successful for the offense to be good,” he said. “We have great receivers, a good tight end and four or five backs. And we’ve been winning for weeks without a great running game. So I don’t feel like I have to carry the whole load. I want to be part of it, but it’s not like it’s on my shoulders.”

Bell, who spent five weeks recovering from a hamstring pull, is now trying to get over an ankle sprain suffered nearly a month ago.

When Bell practices, he often seems to re-injure the ankle.

How close is he to returning to action?

“I can’t answer that,” Coach Art Shell said. “I really can’t. I would love for it to happen. I don’t know where Nick is physically, how the ankle has responded over the last few days. We really won’t know until he gets out and starts working.

“It’s a frustrating thing. He’s a guy we were counting on to be the guy, and it just hasn’t worked out that way.

“There are different degrees of ankle sprains. His, we thought, was a simple sprain. But for a running back, guys who have got to make cuts, it’s a little different than for a lineman. For him, obviously it’s a more severe thing because of his position.”

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All individual-game tickets have been sold for the Raiders’ Nov. 14 game against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Coliseum.

But the Raiders are still selling season-ticket blocks. With four home dates remaining, the Raiders are offering fans the opportunity to buy only three of the four, including the Chief game.