The Las Vegas Raiders have done a good job of staying mostly healthy this season, but during a football season, injuries are going to happen. The team recently activated the practice windows for tight end Carter Runyon and wide receiver Dont’e Thornton Jr.
While they’ve been able to practice, the Raiders aren’t ready to put them on the active roster yet. Ahead of the Week 6 game against the Buffalo Bills, the team revealed in their injury report that Thornton and Runyon have been ruled out.
That’s not a surprise, as head coach Klint Kubiak has suggested both players need more time. The bigger concern is defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway. He missed practice throughout the week, so it looked like a long shot he would play. The Raiders officially ruled him out.
Hemingway hasn’t made a lot of noise this season, but he’s a player the Raiders are very high on. He has started all five games for the team. The Raiders don’t have great depth at defensive tackle, so losing Hemingway is a blow. It would really help the team if Jonah Laulu or JJ Pegues were able to step up, but it remains to be seen if that’ll happen.
Raiders Run Defense Needs to Improve
Losing Hemingway for a week hurts more right now, as the Raiders run defense has been among the worst in the NFL. The team is very aware that they need to improve their play against the run.
“We’ve just got to make sure that we keep a solid edge to our defense and don’t get moved off the line of scrimmage,” defensive tackle Adam Butler said. “Run defense is a mentality, and we’ve got to make sure we bring that every game.”
Cornerback Taron Johnson thinks that the team isn’t focusing on the details enough.
“I feel like we’ve just got to be more detailed,” Johnson said. “There’s times where guys get out of their gaps or whatever the case may be. But at the end of the day, we have to be more detailed and disciplined in that.”
Raiders Can’t Rely on Turnovers
A big reason why the Raiders defense looked so good the first three weeks of the season was they there were turning the ball over. The last two games haven’t been as productive. Kubak thinks it’s because teams are putting extra focus on not turning the abll over when playing the Raiders.
“The other side of the ball, they’re going to come after what you’re good at,” Kubiak said. “They’re going to harp on, ‘Hey, this team, they’ve taken the ball away,’ so they’re going to protect it better. So, we’ve got to continue to take the ball away and just continue to improve as a team.”
Though the Raiders can’t simply rely on turnovers, safety Jeremy Chinn how much of an advantage that can give the team.
“I think there’s always been things we need to work on, and we’ll continue to work on those things whether it’s a win or a loss,” Chinn said. “But I think just football in general, when you’re able to take the ball away, it puts you in position to win football games.”
3 Raiders Ruled out vs. Bills Due to Injury, Including Starter