ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Coach Tom Cable made one declaration about his starting quarterback a day after backup Bruce Gradkowski relieved Jason Campbell and rallied the Oakland Raiders to a victory -- and it wasn't about who will start this week.
"There isn't going to be a controversy," Cable said Monday. "I'll make a good decision, the right decision, and we'll go from there."
Cable said he had a good idea of what he planned to do, but would wait until Wednesday before revealing his decision about who would start for the Raiders (1-1) in Arizona on Sunday.
He said having two capable quarterbacks was a good problem to deal with after struggling to find anyone capable of leading the team for much of the past two seasons when JaMarcus Russell was the starter.
"We have a good issue here. We're not going to let it be a negative or make it a negative," Cable said. "The bottom line here is we've got two guys we think can play. We'll do what we think is best for our team. If we need to make a switch again down the road -- we're going to need them both, probably need all three of them before the year's over with the way this league is. I like where we're at."
Cable said he would consult with his assistants on the decision. He made the move to the backup much earlier this season than a year ago with Russell. He waited until the seventh game to pull Russell for the first time and didn't make the switch to Gradkowski as starter until the 10th game of the season.
Owner Al Davis allowed Cable to make that call last year. Cable said it's important that the coach has the final decision.
"I think it has to be," he said. "When you sit in the chair I do, you have to be able to go out and coach your team and make your decisions and do those things. If you don't, I think you put yourself in a bind."
Neither Gradkowski nor Campbell were in the locker room during the open media period Monday so they didn't address the quarterback situation.
After the game, Gradkowski made it clear he wants to be the starter.
"In my mind, I am the starter," he said Sunday. "But that's how you have to approach it. If you're the backup, if you're the third stringer, no matter who you are. We don't play this game to be backups. We play this game to be starters in this league and win championships, and that's what we're here to do."
Just as he did last year when he led the Raiders to victories against Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, Gradkowski has provided a needed spark to a stagnant offense.
After scoring 16 points in the first six quarters of the season, Gradkowski led Oakland to 13 points on its first four drives with him at the helm. His mere presence in the huddle appears to do something to the energy level of his teammates.
"It's just Bruce," receiver Louis Murphy said. "That's just the way Bruce is. He's just high-wired and really amped. He's very intense. It's just Bruce."
Despite standing just 6-foot-1 and lacking the strongest arm, Gradkowski has shown an ability to make plays during his brief opportunities with the Raiders.
Since joining the Raiders last season, Gradkowski has done the best job of any of their quarterbacks of getting the ball to the wide receivers. That was especially evident Sunday.
He completed five passes each to Murphy and Darrius Heyward-Bey for 138 yards and a touchdown. The duo had just seven catches for 72 yards in three halves with Campbell.
Gradkowski also is able to use his mobility to help out an offensive line that has had trouble pass protecting. Gradkowski was not sacked once on his 22 pass attempts, while Campbell has been brought down six times in 52 pass attempts.
That was also the pattern last year as Gradkowski has been sacked on about 6 percent of his dropbacks, compared to more than 10 percent for Oakland's other quarterbacks during his tenure.
"He finds ways to make plays. He has guys in his face, getting hit, put on his back but he's still getting the ball out," tight end Zach Miller said. "Even if he's just throwing it away, he's saving us sacks. He's really able to make plays under pressure and find a way to get first downs. It's a good quality in a quarterback."
The Raiders topped 400 yards of offense for the first time in nearly five years and earned a much-needed win but there were still plenty of signs of concern after winning by only two points at home against a team that has lost 27 of 28 games.
Oakland managed only one touchdown on four trips inside the St. Louis 20-yard line. Five other trips inside the Rams 40 netted only three more points.
The Raiders were stopped on a fourth-and-1 inside the St. Louis 10, settled for two field goals after getting inside the 20 and then had other drives thwarted by penalties or turnovers.
"We're happy but we know we have a lot of room to improve, especially offensively," Miller said. "We left a lot of points out there. We need to go back to work and make sure when we get down that close to the red zone, that close to the end zone we score a lot of points."
Notes
Cable used rookie Jared Veldheer and Mario Henderson at LT on a rotation basis and plans to do so until one clearly plays better than the other. ... RB Michael Bush has had the stitches removed from his broken left thumb and will enter this week believing he will be healthy enough to play for the first time this season. ... FB Luke Lawton was cut after his suspension for the first two games of the season expired.