Getting back on track in Week 7 will be paramount for the Las Vegas Raiders. Klint Kubiak's team is already losing its grip on the AFC playoff race after three straight losses, and how they perform during this stretch will determine if they become buyers or sellers at the trade deadline.
Simply put, there is a lot going on right now with the Silver and Black. Playing a loaded team with big names like the Los Angeles Rams always amplifies things, too, but Las Vegas has some interesting decisions to make for themselves both ahead of this weekend's game and in the time shortly after.
To catch up on everything that may not have been covered extensively over the last few days, we present to you our Saturday Raiders news roundup. We'll go over the final injury report for both teams, a conundrum the team has brewing at wide receiver, Week 7 captains and more.
Final injury report
Player | Position | Injury | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Mike Washington Jr. | RB | Foot/Back | Questionable |
Tonka Hemingway | DT | Concussion | - |
Quay Walker | LB | Chest | - |
Brock Bowers | TE | Hamstring/Calf | - |
Kolton Miller | LT | Shoulder | - |
Foley Fatukasi | DT | Shoulder | - |
Spencer Burford | LG | Knee | - |
Trey Zuhn III | OL | Knee | - |
Segun Olubi | LB | Wrist | - |
Dont'e Thornton Jr. | WR | Hamstring | Not Activated (OUT) |
Carter Runyon | TE | Foot | Not Activated (OUT) |
Washington Jr. is really the only question mark, as everyone else who was limited or did not participate earlier in the week has no game designation. Neither Dont'e Thornton Jr. nor Carter Runyon, both of whom have had their practice windows opened, were activated for Week 7.
Player | Position | Injury | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Trent McDuffie | CB | Groin | Questionable |
Nate Landman | LB | Concussion | OUT |
Puka Nacua | WR | Calf | Questionable |
Colby Parkinson | TE | Shoulder | - |
Josh Wallace | CB | Calf | - |
Landman being out is a tough blow for the middle of the Los Angeles defense. McDuffie and Nacua are both listed as questionable, but the former hasn't practiced this week, and the latter left practice on Thursday with an injury and didn't participate on Friday. And they're bigger deals than Landman.
WR conundrum
On Thursday evening, Jack Bech posted on his Instagram story. Attached to a picture of him in uniform was a caption that just read "Soon." Naturally, that led fans to believe that the second-year wideout could be returning from his injury - well, soon.
Bech was placed on IR after Week 3, meaning that he is eligible to return and have his 21-day practice window opened after Week 7. Dont'e Thornton Jr. had his 21-day practice window opened on October 7, so a decision could be made on both players at the beginning of next week.
The conundrum is that Las Vegas only has so many spots available on the 53-man roster, and only so many can be allocated to the wide receiver position. An option would be to cut Dareke Young and to activate Thornton Jr. at the end of his window, but what would the team then do with a healthy Bech?
They could obviously cut someone else, but who? At what position? It will be interesting to see how the Raiders handle this situation, because if they don't activate Thornton Jr. by October 28, they will have to put him on season-ending IR (he's been practicing in full) or release him.
Week 7 captains
Here are this week's captains:
Special Teams: Isaiah Pola-Mao
Offense: DJ Glaze
Defense: Treydan Stukes
This is the first time each player has been a captain this season, as the Raiders have had zero repeats through seven weeks. All three players had great outings in their respective phases of the game last week, and Stukes is the first rookie to be selected as a captain this year.
Best pre-game quotes before Rams game
Klint Kubiak on how he'd evaluate himself as a coach through six games:
"I just always think about our team. I'm evaluating our team, and one person as a coach, one player that's playing good or bad is irrelevant. So, how would I evaluate our team right now? And I evaluate us as a 3-3 team. You are what your record says you are. We have everything in front of us. We have a really good football team coming into our place this week, and like I just told the guys, everything's in front of us. So, what's our decision going to be? Is it going to be, 'Oh, here we go again', or is it going to be, 'Oh, let's attack this next game and put ourselves in position.' And that's what I love about these guys. These guys aren't down. Yeah, we were down yesterday, but not today. Today we're getting better. We're making corrections; we know all the good things that we can do. We know what's ahead of us and what we can accomplish as a team, and there's a lot of positivity in that, and that's where I'm at right now."
Kirk Cousins on if he's learning from Fernando Mendoza and Aidan O'Connell as well:
"All the time. When I first met [Mendoza], I said, ‘Hey, let's talk about back shoulders. You're one of the best out there I've seen on tape throwing back shoulders. I don't think I've done as good a job of it as I could have over my career. Teach me.’ That was the first time I met him. So that's ongoing. I remember with Aidan [O'Connell], I missed Brock Bowers against the Chiefs early on a third down. Had not played with Brock extensively. Aidan's been with him for years. The next week, Aidan pulled up clips of him throwing the same exact route to Brock, and we watched him to kind of see what that needs to look like. The next week against the Patriots, using that clip as help, we were able to hit it. So, you're constantly trying to learn from guys because they do have experiences that you haven't had, and they can help. And so, you got to be a good question asker and learn."
Rob Leonard on Fernando Mendoza:
“Fernando [Mendoza] has been great. Again, you want to talk about preparation; he was out here last night when I was coming down to get something for dinner. He’s a very highly talented player. When talent meets work ethic like that, I think you have something special.”
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