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The Oakland Raiders don’t seem to be getting any healthier before Sunday’s game.
As the Raiders prepare for their “home” game in London on Sunday, the same faces remained injured — except there was a new one to add to the injury report. Starting offensive guard Richie Incognito is now listed as “questionable” due to a back injury.
The 36-year-old guard wasn’t even listed on the initial injury report on Wednesday before being limited in practice on Thursday. On Friday, Incognito didn’t participate at all — not a good sign heading into the weekend. Jordan Devey is considered the backup at left guard and has started all four of the team’s games this season due to their abundance of injuries along the offensive line.
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Raiders Still Banged Up at Wide Receiver
Making matters worse, No. 1 wide receiver Tyrell Williams doesn’t appear to be getting any healthier as we close in on the Week 5 matchup. Williams was a non-participant in practice on Friday for the third straight day due to a foot injury. To make matters even worse, J.J Nelson, the next receiver on the depth chart, was also a non-participant in Friday’s practice due to a knee injury. He had at least been a limited participant during Wednesday and Thursday’s practices.
Wide receiver/return specialist Dwayne Harris remains questionable for Sunday’s game, but there was some positivity — he did at least practice as a limited participant on Friday. That was obviously an upgrade over Thursday when he didn’t participate at all due to an ankle injury.
In all, six Raiders players could miss the Week 5 tilt against the Chicago Bears. Starting offensive guard Gabe Jackson remains out while Clelin Ferrell (concussion), Harris, Nelson, Williams and Incognito are all listed as questionable.
Derek Carr Defends Vontaze Burfict
In other news, the Raiders’ franchise quarterback is defending the team’s defensive leader, Vontaze Burfict. Burfict was handed a season-long suspension following his illegal helmet-to-helmet hit of Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle.
Burfict’s 12-game suspension is the longest in NFL history due to an on-field incident.
Via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.
“I don’t think he was trying to hurt that man; the man was going down,” Carr said of Burfict’s helmet-to-helmet hit on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle on Sunday, which triggered the suspension a day later. “You see it all the time — there’s flags flying everywhere.
“We see other people choking people out, and they’re going to play this Sunday. We see other people hitting people in the helmet, and they’re going to play this Sunday. And Vontaze Burfict won’t play the rest of the year? I think that’s a little excessive, if you ask me. I don’t think it’s fair, if we really got to know the guy. If the people making the decision really knew the guy that we know, inside our building … he’s a great person, his heart is broken because he’s not playing football. The guy just wants to play football. We don’t get a lot of time to play this game in our lives.”
The NFL did make sure to mention that it wasn’t this singular incident that led to his suspension — it was Burfict’s repeated violations and suspensions that factored into this decision.
Burfict will appeal his suspension on Tuesday, meaning that the Raiders will have to deal with the absence of their defensive captain as they take on the Bears in Week 5.