Getty Raiders HC Jon Gruden.
The Oakland Raiders have dealt with quite a few injuries this season, especially in the defensive backfield. They’ve already lost both starting safeties for the season and didn’t have LaMarcus Joyner for the game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Fortunately, the defense didn’t need them as they held the Bengals to only 10 points.
The New York Jets are the next team on deck and while they are sitting at 3-7, they will present a tougher test than the Bengals did. Luckily, it looks like Oakland could have Joyner back for the Week 12 matchup. According to Jon Gruden, the defensive back was limited in Wednesday’s practice. That doesn’t mean that he’s for sure going to play, but it’s definitely a positive sign.
Joyner hasn’t had his best year, but he’s a team captain and one of the more experienced players on the defense. He’s a stabilizing force in a secondary that is very young. He was technically listed as “did not participate,” but according to the coach, he participated in some capacity.
David Sharpe Still Out
It’s looking like Trent Brown might be without his backup for a little while longer. After missing the Bengals game, David Sharpe didn’t participate in Wednesday’s practice. Considering the fact that Brown has been dealing with injuries throughout the majority of the season, Sharpe’s absence is notable. Brandon Parker is the only other backup tackle on the roster and the Raiders should want to avoid using him as much as possible. Brown is as tough as they come and has only missed one game this season because of his injury. That being said, if he misses another game and Sharpe can’t go, Oakland could find themselves in a bad situation.
Josh Jacobs, Rodney Hudson and Brown popped up on the report, but that’s been the case for weeks at this point, so not too much should be read into that.
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Karl Joseph Had Successful Surgery
In other news, safety Karl Joseph took to his Instagram page to announce that he had a successful surgery. Joseph hurt his foot on the last play of the game against the Los Angeles Chargers and it was announced shortly after that he was going to be done for the year.
Joseph was coming off a couple of really strong games in a row. His injury couldn’t have come at a worse time considering he’s in a contract year. Whether or not he did enough to warrant another contract after the season remains to be seen, but he definitely helped his chances.
“He’s a hard guy replace,” said Gruden about Joseph after Wednesday’s practice. “One of my favorite guys… Karl, if you’re listening, hopefully, you’re getting well soon.”
At the end of the day, it’s going to be Gruden’s call if the Raiders are going to retain Joseph or not. Hearing the coach say such nice things about the safety definitely bodes well for his chances. Joseph hasn’t exactly lived up to status as a first-round pick, but he’s a solid player and would probably cost a lot less than many other alternatives. Plus, he’s made it clear that he’d like to stay with the team.
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