"Whether Kyle Boller or Carson Palmer starts at quarterback for the Raiders against Kansas City on Sunday, Oakland's game plan might be affected more by who's kicking the ball instead of who's throwing it.

Sebastian Janikowski did not practice again Friday because of a hamstring injury. Janikowski is 12-for-13 on field-goal tries this season and has hit five of 50 yards or longer.

His range clearly can influence play-calling once the Raiders get past midfield. More on the kicking situation later.

First, let's look at head coach Hue Jackson's range in publicly avoiding naming his starting QB for Sunday's game.

During his early-afternoon news conference, Jackson was asked why he's beating around the bush in announcing who will be the QB.

"Because I can," Jackson replied. "You guys all want to know. Is somebody going to pay me or something?"

Jackson had joked that he would wait until having an Irish coffee around 7 o'clock Friday night before he would make the decision. He then was asked if he could decide to not decide at that point.

"It depends on how strong my Irish coffee is," Jackson said.

Jackson did reveal a bit when asked if it's tough for the offense to prepare for the game if it doesn't know who the starting quarterback will be.

"No," he said, "because I know who the starting quarterback is."

On Friday, several Internet reports had the Raiders planning to start Boller. Of course, on Wednesday and Thursday, some of the same outlets had been almost guaranteeing Palmer would get the call.

Palmer, meanwhile, met with the media for about 15 seconds. He said he feels "fantastic," and added, "I'm getting prepared. I'm getting as prepared as I can. I'm excited about the opportunity (to be) just around the field, let alone get a chance to play."

Those sentiments are understandable, considering the Raiders acquired Palmer from Cincinnati only Tuesday and he hasn't taken a live snap since going 32-for-45 for 305 yards in the Bengals' 13-7 loss at Baltimore on Jan. 2."