Raiders Will Give Brooks Shot at Quarterback Job

ALAMEDA —  Randy Moss jogged by Aaron Brooks between drills and slapped him a low five. He greeted Brooks in the locker room with a friendly welcome and “What’s up?”

Moss later caught a few nice passes from his new quarterback too.

“Being a quarterback and being on the same team and in the same offense as he is, it just brings a smile to your face,” Brooks said Friday following the Oakland Raiders’ morning minicamp practice. “Because he can make the weakest quarterback the best.

“To have an opportunity to play with a receiver who’s as talented as he is, you’ve just got to embrace it and try to do everything you can to get him the ball but not try to overdo it.”

Owner Al Davis brought in Brooks last month to replace Kerry Collins, and Brooks will get the chance to win the top job come training camp in July. With that title comes the demanding chore of turning around an underachieving offense.

If Brooks becomes the starter as expected, that first will mean finding a way to get more out of stars such as Moss, LaMont Jordan and Jerry Porter.

While Moss dealt with nagging injuries for much of last season, Collins and fired coach Norv Turner were criticized for not getting the most out of Moss in his first season with the franchise. He had only one multi-touchdown game and finished the season with 60 catches for 1,005 yards and eight touchdowns.

Brooks, who had started 82 straight games before being benched by New Orleans for the final three games of 2005, looked comfortable right away in silver and black.

On one play, he handed off to Jordan, then later made a nice pitch to Raiders’ 1,000-yard rusher Jordan. Brooks easily hit Moss on an out route before nearly being picked off by cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.

Moss seemed to be enjoying himself too. Looking healthy and as fit as ever, he hollered in delight at one point.

“Yeah! Let’s do it, Adi!” he yelled toward tight end James Adikisson.

Coach Art Shell, who Davis hired again to take Turner’s place more than a decade after firing him following a 9-7 season, is already running a tight ship -- something his players appreciate considering many say this team has lacked discipline in recent years.

Brooks expects to be an outspoken leader for Oakland, which lost its final six games and eight of nine overall to finish at 4-12 and with one fewer victory than in Turner’s first season.

Although the defense made strides, the Raiders’ offense struggled and didn’t live up to the hype of being the high-powered unit many expected it to be.

Now, Brooks is determined to help change things. He received a vote of confidence when Oakland passed on the chance to draft USC’s Matt Leinart with the seventh overall pick in last week’s draft, going instead with Texas safety Michael Huff.

“Aaron is a competitor, he’s got a strong arm,” offensive lineman Barry Sims said. “It will be exciting to have someone in there who’s got some mobility and some leadership. He’s a good quarterback and we’re excited to have him in here.”

The 30-year-old Brooks spent the last six seasons with the Saints after playing for Green Bay in his first NFL campaign in 1999, but had a sour ending in New Orleans after questioning whether the organization was headed in the right direction.

It wasn’t an easy year after the Saints became homeless in the devastating wake of Hurricane Katrina.

That left Brooks as one of few capable quarterbacks left on the free-agent market this offseason.

“It’s over with. We had three games left,” he said. “If that’s their decision, I’m fine with it. They did what they felt was best for the organization. I’m moving on. I’m glad to be a Raider. New Orleans is New Orleans, and it’s back there in the past. The only thing I’ve got left there is a lot of memories, a lot of friends, teammates and a house that I’m trying to sell.”

The Raiders scored only 51 points with just six touchdowns in their final five games.

When the Raiders cut Collins, Shell was left to consider Marques Tuiasosopo and Andrew Walter.

Tuiasosopo has only two starts in his five-year career. Walter, a third-round pick out of Arizona State last year, didn’t play as a rookie and had groin surgery this offseason. He threw for 85 touchdowns in college.

Tuiasosopo and Walter plan to challenge Brooks -- and both took snaps with the No. 1 unit Friday.

“I come in thinking I’m going to have to compete anyway,” Brooks said. “Nothing is given.”