Getty Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.
The Oakland Raiders had several players battle injuries in Sunday’s game versus the Kansas City Chiefs. While nobody was seriously injured, there are several players that are still nursing their injuries. Most notably, Trent Brown missed Wednesday’s practice with a knee injury that forced him to miss the ending of Sunday’s game. Jon Gruden isn’t convinced that he’ll be ready for the Vikings. If he doesn’t play, that could be really bad as Brandon Parker was lit up against the Chiefs.
Dwayne Harris is another player who could miss Sunday due to an ankle sprain. Gruden said that Jalen Richard or Hunter Renfrow would fill in for him in the kick/punt returning game. Gruden also said that Josh Jacobs, Vontaze Burfict, Tyrell Williams, J.J. Nelson and Gareon Conley were all limited in Wednesday’s practice. The odds those five play on Sunday seem much higher than Brown’s or Harris’ odds.
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Jon Gruden Isn’t Happy About Upcoming Long Road Trip
🔴🎥 Live: Coach Gruden and Derek Carr address the media from Alameda.
The Raiders are about to embark on a road trip that sees the team away from Oakland for 48 days. It’s an absolutely brutal stretch for the young team and Jon Gruden doesn’t seem too happy about it.
“Still trying to understand how that happened,” said Gruden when asked about the upcoming road trip. “We’re going to have to deal with it. We just got to showcase our mental toughness… It’s uncommon, maybe unprecedented, maybe unrealistic that this should ever happen in pro football. I’m not excited about it, but we’ll adapt and do it the best we can.”
It’s a tough road ahead for the Raiders, but if they can come out of this stretch with a couple of wins, it will be a testament to how far the team has come since last season.
Derek Carr Praises Darren Waller & Josh Jacobs
Rookie running back Josh Jacobs has been one of the best parts of the Raider offense early in the season. He is currently fourth in the NFL in rushing and has earned really high grades from Pro Football Focus. Quarterback Derek Carr had a chance to talk about his new running back.
“He consistently runs his tail off, runs through people, finishes forward, picks up blitzes, catches the ball out of the backfield and you’re like, ‘man, this guy really can do it all,” said Carr about how Jacobs has been coming along.
Another offensive player who has been impressive is tight end Darren Waller. The 6’6 former receiver isn’t only showing off as a receiver, according to Carr.
“The thing about Waller is, we all knew how special he was,” said Carr when asked about what’s impressed him about Darren Waller. “He’s an exceptional blocker, way better than most at his position and that’s saying a lot coming from a guy [who] came from receiver.”
The Raiders finally have some exciting young pieces on offense and they should only get better as the season goes on.
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