Things we learned on getaway day at Raiders HQ
Raiders right tackle Trent Brown was a full participant in practice Friday, with coach Jon Gruden optimistic he'll be good to go against Minnesota.
ALAMEDA — There was more up in the air than the Raiders themselves Friday as they boarded buses headed for the airport and a Week 3 road date against the Minnesota Vikings.
“Obviously we have enough injuries right now if you look at the list, with a lot of guys being questionable, we don’t really know their status until until we get to Minnesota,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said.
The good news is that right tackle Trent Brown was not only on the field for the first time this week, but a full participant in practice despite a sore right knee. He’s listed as questionable but it appears as though he’ll play.
“He’s still sore,” Gruden said. “He looked good today, though. He’s a tough guy. Hopefully he’ll be able to go on Sunday.”
Five other players were listed as questionable: linebacker Vontaze Burfict (shoulder, knee), defensive tackle P.J. Hall (illness), defensive tackle Corey Liuget (knee), right guard Denzelle Good (ankle) and slot corner Lamarcus Joyner (groin).
Good and Joyner were late additions to the list. Good was injured during Thursday’s practice.
JACOBS FEELING BETTER
Running back Josh Jacobs, after being limited in practice during the week with a hip injury and indicating on an Instagram post he’d been sick and lost 10 pounds, was a full participant in practice and was not given an injury designation.
Jacobs has 184 yards rushing in two games for the Raiders, with Derek Carr the next leading rusher with 20 yards.
Aside from Hall, Keisean Nixon also missed time with an illness this week, although he was feeling good enough in practice Friday to be a full participant and teammates felt good enough about the undrafted rookie to request a pre-flight food run.
“I heard (offensive coordinator) Greg Olson had a whooping cough of some kind so I shut my door ,” Gruden said. “We’ve got a lot of germs in this facility. A lot of guys have been under the weather.”
NELSON READY TO ROLL
Wide receiver J.J. Nelson was injured in the Week 1 win over Denver, missing most of the game, and then was inactive against the Chiefs. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound wide out adds a downfield presence to the Raiders offense.
“He’s a guy that had a great training camp for us,” Gruden said. “He was getting a lot of reps for a lot of reasons and he took advantage of ’em. We need the speed, no doubt.”
Nelson said it was hard to watch from the sidelines last week but also necessary.
“I try not to rush the process,” Nelson said. “It was only the second game. We’ve got a long season ahead. I dind’t want to make it worse than what it was. It did kind of linger on me, but I feel like we did a good job shutting me down last weekend and hopefully being able to go this week. I feel pretty good right now.”
Gruden wasn’t sure if Trevor Davis, acquired from Green Bay this week, would be active or not. He could be used immediately returning kicks, but it remains to be seen if he can help as a receiver on Sunday.
“You’ve got to do more than just play on special teams,” Gruden said. “That extra receiver has got to be ready to play receiver. We’l get with Rich (Bisaccia) and Edgar (Bennett) and see where he is in terms of picking up enough offense in case he has to play. But there’s a 50-50 chance he’s up. There’s also a lot to be decided yet.”
Davis said he’s “taken in a good percentage” of the playbook.
“I don’t know 100 percent of course,” Davis said. ‘It depends on the play. I’ve seen it happen before when I was with the Packers, guys come in and play the same week they came in. Just studying up and being ready.”
LIUGET TO DEBUT
The Raiders have taken their time with defensive tackle Corey Liuget, signed as a free agent just before the cutdown to 53. It appears Liuget, along with suspended left guard Richie Incognito, will make their debuts against the Vikings.
“I would think this would be his week,” Gruden said. “But I’ll wait until I talk with the coaches and see how he feels after I talk to him.”