Raiders: Kiffin not asked to quit

Responding to a report Friday that Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis wants Lane Kiffin to step down and has even drafted a letter of resignation for the coach, a team spokesman said the Raiders are expecting Kiffin to be their coach next fall.

“Yes, certainly,” said John Herrera, Raiders senior executive.

Herrera declined to specifically deny the ESPN.com report, which said the Raiders are considering Dennis Green as a potential replacement, saying, “We don’t like to dignify things by denying them. It hasn’t been an issue.”

Kiffin, who has two years remaining on his contract at about $2 million a year, did not respond to messages left on his cellphone. Kiffin and his Raiders staff are in Mobile, Ala., coaching the North team in the Senior Bowl.

“I’m not going to comment on anything that has transpired in the past three weeks,” Kiffin said to ESPN.com, leaving open to interpretation the possibility that something actually has happened.

It would be highly unlikely -- and entirely uncharacteristic -- of the Raiders, or any NFL team, to acknowledge the existence of an unsigned letter of resignation. It isn’t known how much the Raiders would owe Kiffin if they fired him, as opposed to having him resign.

The Raiders are on their seventh head coach since returning to Oakland in 1995 from Los Angeles. Green’s name has surfaced as a possible coaching candidate for at least a decade.

Kiffin, 32, who was hired by the Raiders last February after fellow USC assistant Steve Sarkisian turned down the job, was 4-12 in his first season as Oakland’s coach. He reportedly was given more autonomy than recent Raiders coaches and was allowed to select five of his offensive assistants.

According to various reports, Kiffin wanted to fire defensive coordinator Rob Ryan after the season but was overruled by Davis.

Ryan reportedly wanted to become defensive coordinator of the New York Jets, but the Raiders released a statement calling those reports “irresponsible.”

Earlier this week, Kiffin told the Chicago Tribune that Ryan is staying put.

Herrera said the team will interview James Lofton next week as a potential position coach. Lofton, who was fired this week after six seasons as San Diego’s receivers coach, has twice interviewed with Davis for Raiders head coaching vacancies.

-- Sam Farmer

For the second consecutive day, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wasn’t in the team’s locker room or at practice when reporters and cameramen were allowed inside.

During the 45-minute period in the locker room, several cameramen lingered near his locker, but he didn’t show up. Nor was he there for the first 12 minutes of practice that the media were allowed to watch.

New England Coach Bill Belichick said reporters would be informed after practice if Brady participated. Stacey James, the Patriots’ vice president of media relations, said that he had no update on whether Brady practiced.

Brady was photographed in New York on Monday wearing a protective boot on his right foot. He took it off later in the day and hasn’t been photographed wearing it since.

Brady reportedly has a minor high ankle sprain that isn’t expected to keep him out of the Super Bowl against the New York Giants on Feb. 3.

Pittsburgh Steelers strong safety Troy Polamalu (knee sprain) will not play in the Pro Bowl, joining running back Willie Parker as the team’s second player to skip the Feb. 10 game at Honolulu. Antoine Bethea of the Indianapolis Colts will replace Polamalu.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jeff Garcia is headed to the Pro Bowl as a replacement for Green Bay’s Brett Favre on the NFC roster.

Favre, who was chosen as the starter, had said he was unsure whether he would play after leading the Packers to the NFC championship game.

The other NFC quarterbacks are Dallas’ Tony Romo and Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck.

The Washington Redskins hired Jim Zorn to be their offensive coordinator, according to a person familiar with the situation.

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Super Bowl poll

The Times has selected the top 32 Super Bowl winners and seeded them into a tournament. Results from the first four games of Round 1 (3,922 votes cast):

1972 Miami Dolphins: 81.2%

1970 Baltimore Colts: 18.8%

1985 Chicago Bears: 91.7%

1969 Kansas City Chiefs: 8.3%

1978 Pittsburgh Steelers: 94.0%

2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6.0%

1989 San Francisco 49ers: 93.3%

2000 Baltimore Ravens:6.7%

* Cast your vote for the next four head-to-head matchups at latimes.com/sports.