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Teammates Defend Russell

Earlier today I posed the question via Twitter, "Mr. Russell: Are you or aren't you doing the things it takes to be good and win?"

I asked the question amid a flood of information regarding Russell missing and/or being late to meetings. Raider Nation would quickly give up on him, if they haven't already, if he wasn't putting in the effort.

So what happens? I just so happen catch a clip on Fox Sports Radio where Petros and Money interviewed ex-teammate Dwayne Bowe.

Bowe said missing or being late to meetings wasn't the JaMarcus he knew at LSU and that he hadn't heard that to be the case and didn't think it was true.

Then comes this excerpt from Mario Henderson's Blog date October 8, 2009.

I've had reporters coming up to me all week asking about JaMarcus and why he isn't playing better and all this stuff, but I tell them that the guy is doing everything right in order to try and get better. He gets there early, works hard, watches film and leaves later than everybody else. When a team struggles everybody looks at the quarterback, but at the same time we aren't doing much to help him out right now.

This becomes one of the areas where I have a problem with some of the national media. They are quick to report rumors and comment on Russell's struggles, but aren't willing to put up any information that is contradictory to those reports.

So while Russell has struggled statistically and Raider Nation has grown frustrated, I believe a breakthrough could be around the corner.

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