The Las Vegas Raiders are facing some real adversity for the first time this season. After a 45-17 trouncing by the New England Patriots, it’s clear that the Raiders have some big issues.
From a roster perspective, the biggest issue is a lack of wide receiver talent. The Raiders were already considered weak at the position before the season, but Jack Bech, Jalen Nailor and Dont’e Thornton were all out in Week 5 due to injury.
It remains to be seen when any of those three might return to the field, so the Raiders decided to bring in another wide receiver in the meantime. The team announced that they have signed Jamari Thrash to the practice squad.
To make room for Thrash, Las Vegas had to send Tyler Scott to the Injured Reserve. Scott was just signed weeks ago, but didn’t get a chance to play a game. It’s unclear what’s wrong with him. The Raiders could potentially reach some kind of injury settlement with him if he’s not too hurt but wants to play. Regardless, he likely won’t be playing for Las Vegas this season. The 25-year-old veteran will have to keep waiting for another chance to play in the NFL.
Raiders Trying to Figure Out What Went Wrong
Losing to the defending AFC champions isn’t something to be too upset about. However, the Raiders got completely outclassed in all three phases of the game.
It was a putrid performance all around. The Raiders were feeling good about the team heading into the game, but it’s clear they have problems. Defensive tackle Adam Butler is just eager to figure out what went wrong.
“We’ve just got to identify what went wrong. It’s that simple,” Butler said on “Raiders Gameday.” “We’ve shown that we can play and when we’re on it, good things happen. We have to get back to that.”
Defensive end Maxx Crosby doesn’t know what went wrong, but he’s hoping the team steps up.
“You can feel like the best team in the world one week and the next week it could be real tough,” Crosby said. “It’s just about getting better. We’re all gonna look in the mirror. It takes every single one of us and we’ve just got to improve from it.”
Kirk Cousins Talks Loss
The Raiders were looking like a sneaky playoff team, but they didn’t look any better than they did last season in Week 5. Quarterback Kirk Cousins wasn’t expecting this kind of performance.
“I don’t think you ever expect this,” Cousins said. “Watching their run to the Super Bowl, I think you saw an elite defense that was a Super Bowl-caliber defense. Felt that all week as we were preparing for this game, just that we were playing a very, very good defense.”
Similar to the other players, Cousins wants to identify what went wrong because it wasn’t clear during the game.
“I think it was maybe a different answer, different issue on each play,” Cousins said. “They did a nice job with their pressures, getting home quickly. It made it hard for us.”
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