The game's official play-by-play sheet, in dispassionate fashion, listed the Raiders All-Pro center under the "not active" column:

C 63 B.Robbins.

According to Raiders officials, Robbins is in an area hospital for an undisclosed problem. His condition and his future are unknown.

	“	He did this to himself. I'm sure he's going to live with it the rest of his life. ”
		— Tyrone Wheatley, Raiders running back on Barret Robbins

This much we do know: Robbins was barred from playing in the game by Oakland head coach Bill Callahan after Robbins missed Saturday's walk-through. His replacement, Adam Treu, a six-year veteran who started 14 games last year, played by all accounts reasonably well in a 48-21 Raiders defeat against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

There were no mis-handled exchanges between Treu and quarterback Rich Gannon. Most of the Buccaneers' five sacks came from the outside. Treu was not caught holding or jumping before the snap. He was flawless in his six long snaps – a 40-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski and five punts of Shane Lechler.

In the strict terms of Xs and Os, there was no great drop-off.

This was the Raiders' fairly emphatic company line. But what of the mental impact, the distraction that Robbins' problem created? Any time you are answering troublesome questions the day of a game, it can't have a positive impact on a team's collective state of mind.

"I don't think it was disruptive at all," insisted Callahan. "I think we handled it very well and professionally. We moved on. I thought Adam Treu came in there and gave us quality play. We certainly didn't lose the game because of the center position."

Gannon did allow that "it didn't help our cause, but I don't know if it would have made a difference.

"(Treu) did a great job for us today. He didn't get a lot of work this week and the way he played on such short notice was great."

Said left tackle Barry Sims, "We felt like Adam would step in and we wouldn't lose anything. He played all last year. Adam did a great job -- he made all the right calls."

If that's true, those offense line calls that are the center's responsibility, weren't very effective against the Bucs' swarming defense. There were five sacks of Gannon and at least two of them, according to Sims, could be traced to protection breakdowns along the line.

And while the Raiders denied to a man that the Robbins' situation had been a distraction, history tells us that these interruptions can have an effect on a team's fragile mind-set in the last game of the season.

In Super Bowl XXIII, the Cincinnati Bengals Stanley Wilson was found in his Miami hotel bathroom the night before the game, disoriented after using cocaine. The Bengals lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 20-16.

Atlanta Falcons safety Eugene Robinson was charged with soliciting a prostitute on eve of Super Bowl XXXIV. Although Robinson was permitted to play, the Falcons lost to the Denver Broncos, 34-19.

While it was clear, based on their reaction to the question, that some of Robbins' teammates were irked that his situation had become a force of its own – if only in the media's relentless questions -- some were sympathetic.

"We were just happy that he was OK," said reserve running back Tyrone Wheatley. "But, hey, it's not like he's throwing the ball.

"He did this to himself. I'm sure he's going to live with it the rest of his life."

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.