Rookies JaMarcus Russell and Michael Bush must be wondering, with the rest of us: what in the world the Raiders are doing?

Russell, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, should have been on the field before this. Yes, he started off behind because he missed training camp, but he was at the minicamps and organized team activities in the spring, when much of the offense was put in.

Yet, coach Lane Kiffin has delayed his debut, making inane statements like, “We’ll play the quarterback who gives us the best chance to win.” Give it up, Lane. Your team has lost six in a row, headed to a fifth straight year among the bottom-feeders in the NFL and it really makes no difference whether Daunte Culpepper or Josh McCown is in there.

If the Raiders have any hope for the future, it resides in Russell. He should have been given a few plays that he could run and put in the games in the second and third quarters to get him accustomed to the speed of NFL games. If he doesn’t play at all this season, he will have wasted a full year ... and for what purpose?

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The last two weeks, Russell has finally taken some snaps in practice with the first team, an indication that Kiffin will finally get him in the lineup soon. ESPN has speculated that he’ll play in the Dec. 2 game at Oakland against the Denver Broncos. Though it’s only speculation, that seems logical. Russell would have the support of the home crowd, and the Raiders can certainly use his appearance to sell tickets.

The Bush case is equally puzzling. Bush was projected as a contender for the Heisman Trophy until he broke his leg badly at the start of his senior season. The Raiders picked him in the fourth round of the draft, which will be a steal if he works out.

Bush was on the physically unable to perform list at the start of the season but had been practicing with the team since Week 6.

Meanwhile, strange things had been happening among the Raiders’ running backs. After Justin Fargas had a couple of big games, he was made the No. 1 running back. Since then, he has shown why he had been a reserve earlier, but Kiffin has kept him as the starter.

That’s put two high-priced free agents, LaMont Jordan and Dominic Rhodes, on the bench. Jordan hasn’t played in the last two games; Rhodes has only 12 carries all season.

Because the deadline for activating Bush was this week, there was speculation that either Jordan or Rhodes would be released to make room for him. Instead, Bush was put on the reserve/non-football list because the Raiders knew that whichever back was released would be picked up by either Kansas City or Denver, their next two opponents.

This was pure Al Davis, who is always looking for a way to screw someone, even if it hurts his own team. It’s understandable that the Raiders would like to beat a division foe, something they haven’t done in their last 17 tries (an ongoing NFL record), but when it comes at the expense of developing a player who can be important to their future, it makes little sense.

But, that’s the Raiders. If Russell and Bush wonder what’s going on…well, join the club.

Glenn Dickey has been covering Bay Area sports since 1963 and also writes on www.GlennDickey.com. E-mail him at glenndickey@hotmail.com.