Oakland quarterback Aaron Brooks (2) is chased by St. Louis defensive tackles Jason Fisk (96) and Jimmy Kennedy (73). Brooks said his first year in Oakland had fallen far short of his expectations.

Alameda, Calif. ? Quarterback Aaron Brooks joined the Raiders in March.

Soon thereafter, he walked into the locker room in Alameda and saw five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Randy Moss. Receiver Ronald Curry sat just around the corner. To his right, Brooks spotted receivers Jerry Porter and Doug Gabriel.

The possibilities seemed endless, Brooks said. How would he know which receiver to throw to on any given play? All were talented, game-breaking players. He had walked straight out of his own personal hell that was the New Orleans Saints and into a quarterback’s dream.

Or so he thought. Nine months later, Brooks says he looks around the same locker room, sees the same players and says, “What the (heck) have I gotten in to?”

That doesn’t even include his personal travails this season, such as missing seven games with a strained pectoral muscle. His benching early in the fourth quarter of Oakland’s 20-0 loss to the St. Louis Rams on Sunday is just the latest in a string of strange events that has made for a most difficult season, Brooks said.

“Not in a million years,” Brooks said, when asked if he foresaw such turmoil when he signed with the Raiders after six seasons with the Saints.

Brooks said he envisioned great things offensively, with Moss, Porter, Gabriel and Curry at his disposal. He said he thought he would be the envy of every other quarterback in the league.

Instead, Gabriel got traded near the end of training camp, Porter has been engaged in a bitter feud with coach Art Shell since Shell arrived in February, Moss has voiced his displeasure with everything Raider numerous times throughout the season, and Curry only recently has received extensive playing time.

Nowadays, whenever Brooks thinks about what might have been, he plays a video game and shakes his head.

“I just get on my PlayStation for that,” he said of directing an offense that features the aforementioned receivers.

Porter and Moss are questionable for Saturday night’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, but at least Brooks will know he’s playing.

Shell on Monday declared Brooks his starting quarterback for that game. He did so one day after Brooks was benched in favor of Andrew Walter.

That Shell named his starter was news to Brooks. A few minutes earlier, Brooks said he wasn’t sure what the future held for him with the Raiders.

Brooks made it clear that he wasn’t pleased with Shell’s decision to bench him in a game the Raiders trailed only 13-0.

“Two games left, who knows what they’re thinking?” Brooks said. “Are they thinking about the future or are they thinking about getting other guys some reps? So, I try not to play the mind-reading games because they can take it in so many different directions. So you’ve got to prepare, prepare for whatever the outcome of the situation is.”