Suddenly the Raiders are banged up. Particularly at the linebacker position. They had Nicholas Morrow go down in practice this week, Nick Kwiatkoski was already sidelined, and in this game Javin White went down with a knee injury and was carted off the field.
After the game, Jon Gruden gave several injury updates, first and foremost to his linebacking corps.
“There’s a concern obviously with Nick Morrow. His foot is being evaluated,” said Gruden. “And Javin White looks like he hurt his knee. So, we were out a couple linebackers. [Darron] Lee couldn’t play tonight so we’re light at linebacker right now. It’s a concern. [Nick Kwiatkoski] is going to be ok, We think he’s going to be ready to go this week, but he couldn’t go tonight.”
White’s injury during the game tonight looks like it could be especially serious.
“I don’t want to come to any conclusions, but we’re going to evaluate him and he’s got to get the X-rays, but we are concerned,” Gruden added of White.
Others who might have played tonight, but were held out due to health concerns include Damon Arnette, Karl Joseph, and Marcus Mariota. Gruden didn’t give any specifics on Arnette, but I asked him about why Mariota was suited up, but didn’t go.
“He’s just not ready to go, physically,” Gruden said of Mariota. “He competed against the Rams (in scrimmages), but he’s limited, we’re not calling plays for him right now with the limitation. He’s got a quad strain. We think he’s got a chance to play against the 49ers, but the way he plays, we do not want to get him out in a live situation and let him cut it loose, he’s just not ready to go. He was ready tonight on an emergency basis, but right now he’s just not ready to go.”
And finally, there is the status of Richie Incognito who went down in practice Thursday almost simultaneously to when Morrow went down on the opposite field.
“We think he has a calf strain and we hope he’s ready for the opener,” Gruden said of Incognito. “But we don’t believe it’s serious, not Achilles tendon related at all. But it’s a calf injury and we’ll keep you updated, but right now he’ll be out for at least a week or so.”
Should Incognito not be ready for the season opener, John Simpson would step in for him at left guard.