Category: Raiders buzz

Oof. What a blow for the Raiders. After Josh Jacobs played with his injured shoulder the past seven weeks, it finally got the best of him. He is a surprise inactive today. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Jacobs will receive an MRI this week to gauge the severity of the injury to see if it will shut him down for the rest of the season.

Jacobs’ loss is obviously significant. He has been the one part of the Raiders offense that has functioned at a high level all season. But he isn’t the only significant loss. Right tackle Trent Brown is also not playing in today’s game. He suffered a pectoral injury this week and was ruled out on Friday.

Raiders

RB Josh Jacobs
RT Trent Brown
QB Mike Glennon
WR Hunter Renfrow
CB Isaiah Johnson
DT Terrell McClain
LB Kyle Wilber

Notes: Brandon Parker will start at right tackle with Trent Bown out. DeShone Kizer is Derek Carr’s primary backup today with Mike Glennon demoted and inactive. Rico Gafford is active with Hunter Renfrow inactive and after Trevor Davis was released last week. DeAndre Washington will start at running back with Jacobs out.

Titans

#Titans Inactives #TENvsOAK pic.twitter.com/6K7yGnci3n

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) December 8, 2019

This week Josh Jacobs revealed that he doesn’t just have a nagging shoulder injury. He has a broken shoulder and he’s been fighting through it since week 7. Yet each week he still starts and plays the whole game and has even put up four 100-plus-yard performances since then.

That streak appears to be in danger of ending today. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that the rookie back’s status is still up in the air for today’s game in Oakland against the Titans.

#Raiders RB Josh Jacobs (shoulder), who is trying to play through a broken shoulder plate, is a true game-time decision, source say. No guaranteed he can play today, thought he’s trying.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 8, 2019

Jacobs was officially questionable for the game, but that hasn’t stopped him before. If the injury hasn’t improved, or has potentially even been aggravated, that could send him to the sideline, which you’d have to then wonder if it has the potential to end his outstanding rookie season early.

Jacobs is currently the leading rusher among rookies, making him a frontrunner for offensive rookie of the year honors. But awards are not as important as his long term health. And if he can’t go, he can’t go. The only surprising thing here is that he has been able to play seven games with it.

No back in football has been more dominant in the past three weeks than Derrick Henry. The Titans feature back put 188 yards against the Chiefs three weeks ago and hasn’t slowed down since. Last week he had 149 yards against the Colts after putting up 159 against the Jaguars. That’s nearly 500 yards in three games while averaging 7.29 yards per carry.

Henry’s three-week explosion has jumped him to within striking distance of leading the in rushing. He has 1140 yards which is just 35 yards being Nick Chubb (1175) for the league lead.

Unlike Chubb and Christian McCaffrey (1167) who had their season-highs early in the season, Henry seems to be playing his best football down the stretch. Jon Gruden knows the Raiders defense will have their hands full Sunday.

“Yeah I think the secret sauce in Henry is he’s got all the talent, and size, and running instincts, but he never tires. He does not get tired. He’s a machine, man,” said Gruden. “This guy wears you down – physical – he can wear you down. You’ve got to gang tackle him. He’s a better-than-advertised receiver, but he just never tires. The more they give him the ball, the better he gets. It’s an impressive human being.”

“Monster” might be another way to describe Henry. He is a load at 6-3, 247 pounds. Handing him can take its toll on a defense. Especially with his ability to finish runs by driving through defenders. Consistently getting 2-3 yards after contact really adds up.

“You’ve got to play the blocks,” said defensive coordinator Paul Guenther. “First and foremost, you’ve got to be in the right spots, play the block, and then when he gets through there you’ve got to have eleven guys to the ball. He does a good job of trying to get extra yards, so we’ve got to put hats on him wherever he is, on his body as he’s trying to get those extra yards. We’ve got to make sure we get eleven to him.”

This season the Raiders have done a decent job at stopping the run. In only two of their losses did they allow over 100 yards rushing and just four times overall. They are currently ranked 11th in the league in rushing yards allowed.

The problem is focusing on Henry and selling out to stop him is it can cause you to lose discipline and bite on fakes. The next thing you know, Ryan Tannehill keeps it and makes a big play downfield. Or, as Patrick Mahomes did last week, he scoots in for a rushing touchdown of his own. That conundrum is part of the Titans have won three straight and five of their last six games to jump to 7-5 on the season.

Tannehill has been running this Titans offense to perfection of late and having Henry back there to get good yards makes his job a lot easier. And the job of the Raiders defense on Sunday a lot harder.

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The Oakland Raiders finished the final practice of the week as they prepare to take on the Tennessee Titans in what is essentially a playoff game. However, the Raiders will not have their starting right tackle as Trent Brown has been ruled out with a pectoral injury. Second-year player Brandon Parker is expected to take his place in the starting lineup.

It’s also noteworthy that linebacker Kyle Wilber will not play as he deals with an ankle injury. While Wilber doesn’t see a ton of snaps on defense, he is one of the team’s core special teamers. Running back Josh Jacobs is also listed as questionable but is expected to warm-up on Sunday.

Here is the full injury report for the week via the Oakland Raiders:

#Raiders #Titans injury report: Trent Brown is OUT pic.twitter.com/wpSJr6sytl

— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) December 6, 2019

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After a fantastic rookie season in which he recorded four sacks in 10 starts, it would appear the defensive tackle Maurice Hurst has taken some steps backward this season. Through 12 games, Hurst has been in the starting lineup just twice and has recorded only 15 tackles and 3.5 sacks.

However, the raw stats don’t really tell the whole story as Hurst has been a much better player than the numbers indicate.

According to Pro Football Focus, Hurst has actually been one of the better pass-rushing defensive tackles in the NFL. Hurst is currently winning on 17.2 percent of his pass-rush snaps, which is the fourth-most in the NFL. Take a look at some comparable players via Pro Football Focus:

Aaron Donald is simply unmatched as a pass rusher from the interior defensive line 😤 pic.twitter.com/9C8xnLFi1M

— PFF (@PFF) December 6, 2019

Without a doubt, Hurst has been Oakland’s best interior rusher this season. If he can start to convert some of his pressures and hurries into sacks, that would help turn this defense around.

How well Hurst plays over the next month will be a fascinating storyline to watch as he has the talent to take over games. Hurst playing well could help Oakland make a playoff push over the next few games.

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A change at backup quarterback looks to be in the air for the Raiders. In practice today, it was DeShone Kizer who was getting the number two quarterback reps for the first time, overtaking Mike Glennon.

Kizer hasn’t been active for a game this season. He was signed just before the season after being among the final roster cuts by the Packers. Since then, he’s spent the season playing catch up. The Raiders seem to think he’s caught up.

“We’ve looked at him and we’ve made the decision that we’re going to move him up to the number two spot this week,” said offensive coordinator Greg Olson. “But I’ll let Jon [Gruden] answer those questions in regards to the entire depth chart and the decisions that were made there. We do like what we’ve seen out of DeShone.”

Two weeks ago when Derek Carr was pulled late in the third quarter of the Raiders’ blowout loss to the Jets. Glennon came in and promptly fumbled the ball on two of his first three snaps.

Glennon was once a starter for the Buccaneers a few years ago. He has bounced around the league since then. Kizer was a second-round pick by the Browns in 2017 out of Notre Dame. He started 15 games as a rookie throwing for 2894 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 22 interceptions.

Kizer hasn’t started a game since and appeared in just three games for the Packers last season. He threw no touchdowns and two interceptions in those games.

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Wednesday we learned of a new injury for Raiders right tackle Trent Brown. He has a pectoral muscle injury. Thursday he was not practicing for a second straight day, making his status uncertain for Sunday against the Titans.

Joining him in not practicing was the man to this left — right guard Gabe Jackson. He has a knee injury that kept him out. This is one injury report worth watching come Friday with the entire right side of the Raiders line banged up.

Josh Jacobs also missed practice today with his shoulder injury. The same injury he’s been playing with since week seven. Other Raiders players not practicing include WR Hunter Renfrow (rib) and LB Kyle Wilber (ankle). Renfrow is not expected to play for a couple more weeks.

Titans starting running back Derrick Henry returned to practice after missing Wednesday. Still not practicing for the Titans included CB Adoree Jackson, WR Adam Humphries, LB Daren Bates, and CB LeShaun Sims.

Trent Brown missed another practice with his pectoral muscle injury today for #Raiders. Gabe Jackson also not practicing with knee injury. Derrick Henry returns to practice for #Titans pic.twitter.com/Wes6GLcsRE

— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) December 5, 2019

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There are currently five players in the NFL aged 40 years or older. The top two are kickers, the other three are quarterbacks. Most other positions don’t see players’ careers continue into their late 30s, so when Richie Incognito retired two offseasons ago at the age of 35, it wasn’t a huge shock to anyone. More surprising was when a year later, he was back in the NFL.

Wanting to move on from Kelechi Osemele for salary and injury reasons, the Raiders were looking for at least a temporary veteran replacement. There was Incognito, out of football and facing a suspension for several off the field incidents from the past year. So, they figured they take a chance and bring him in.

That suspension came down and it was relatively minor; just two games. Since then, Incognito has been an asset to the team at left guard and looking like he was nowhere near ready for retirement.

“[I]f you ask the players, I would say he’s probably one of the guys that they look up to the most, and he’s a fun guy to be around,” Gruden said of Incognito. “You can’t believe everything you read. Let me say it like that. You know, he’s had some well-documented issues in his past, but he is a great teammate, he’s a great player, he’s a heck of a leader, and we’re glad we have him. We’re trying to keep him on for another three or four years.”

Most of that, you can probably nod your way through it. Right up until the end there. I mean, three or four years? That would make him 39-40 by the time he was done. That’s up there. Incognito is already literally the oldest guard in the NFL. And you want to keep him around for 3-4 more years??

The oldest current offensive linemen in the NFL are center Don Muhlbach and tackle Andrew Whitworth. Both are 38. The only other linemen in their late 30s are tackles Jason Peters (37), and Donald Penn (36). And the Raiders gave Penn up for dead two years ago.

Keeping Incognito on another one-or-two-year deal might be a good idea. So long as they also have a young replacement waiting in the wings. But 3-4 years? That seems a bit far-fetched.

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For the third time since this season began the Raiders find themselves sitting at .500. They sit at an even 6-6 and those wins and losses are almost evenly split home and away. They are 5-1 at home (including the “home” game in London) and 1-5 on the road. Their one home loss came against the Chiefs in week two and their one road win came in Indianapolis in week four.

Most recently they had back-to-back road games in New York and Kansas City and lost both by considerable margins.

It’s clear the Raiders are a very different team at home than they are on the road. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel understands this and knows his Titans will have to prepare to face the best the Raiders have to offer.

“We’re focused on a team that’s 4-1 at the Oakland Coliseum, a defense that gives up 20 points a game at the Oakland Coliseum, an offense that averages 360 yards at the Oakland Coliseum and a team that’s plus-four in turnover margin at home, so we’re very well aware of the success that they’ve had,” said Vrabel.

Whatever it is, whether it’s sleeping in their own beds, playing in front of their own fans, or just not hopping on a plane, the Raiders seem to play better at home.

Head coach Jon Gruden has been railing about their travel schedule all year and continues to say he thinks it has contributed to their blowout losses of late.

“We do like playing at home like everybody else,” said Gruden. “We’ve been on the road more than anybody in the history of the world now. You know 45,000 miles of travel is a joke, and it’s taken a toll on our team. I believe that.”

One thing that no one seems to be saying about the potential reasons for the wins at home and losses on the road is simply the strength of the opponent.

In their five home wins, they faced teams with a combined record of 18-41. The only team they faced with a current winning record was the Chiefs (8-4) and that was the one they lost. They were beaten pretty badly, in fact.

In their five road losses, they faced teams with a combined record of 37-23. The only teams they faced without a current winning record were the Jets (4-8) and the Colts (6-6). The Colts were the only team they beat. The Jets’ loss was just a complete inexplicable debacle.

So, perhaps it isn’t merely a home vs road situation. Perhaps the Raiders have been the same team all year and have played well when facing bad teams and played poorly when facing good ones. And the Jets.

That will be tested Sunday for sure because the Titans sit at 7-5, having won three straight and five of their last six. They are definitely a good team. So, the Raiders will need that home cooking to be served piping hot to prove Oakland is where they thrive.

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