Teams deal with tragedy, COVID-19 issues
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants are preparing to play Sunday with one dealing with tragedy and the other COVID-19 issues.
Coming off their bye week, the AFC West-leading Raiders (5-2) were stunned when wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was involved in a fatal car crash early Tuesday morning that killed a woman and her dog.
The 22-year-old player was released by the team hours later. Prosecutors say Ruggs was driving at 156 mph and had a blood-alcohol content twice Nevada’s legal limit.
The crash came less than a month after Jon Gruden stepped down as coach because of disparaging emails he sent before being hired by the team in 2018.
“These are two totally different situations,” Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said. “Some similar emotions, some very different emotions. But the message has to stay the same. Honestly, I don’t want it to right now. If I’m selfish, I don’t want it to. I want to say a lot of different things. But we have a game this week and I’ve got a job to do, and so do the guys in that locker room.”
The Giants (2-6) have been dealing with COVID-19 issues since returning home Tuesday following a loss to the Chiefs on Monday night. Practices have been delayed and some coaches and players sent home and then told to come back because of numerous false positive test results.
Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams said while it’s unfortunate some players have been forced to miss practice, he said the team dealt with the same issues during the pandemic last season.
“Because we have experience, we know not to let that be a distraction,” said Williams, who’s tied for the team lead with 5 sacks.
While they have split their last two games, the Giants defense has played its best games the past two weeks. It will be in for another tough one against Carr and the Raiders’ No 2 ranked passing offense.
The Raiders are off to their best start since 2016 and interim coach Rich Bisaccia is looking for his third straight win since replacing Gruden. But Las Vegas has an NFL-worst 3-15 mark coming off the bye over the past 18 seasons and has been outscored by 20.5 points per game in losing the last four.
With Ruggs released, Zay Jones will get a much bigger opportunity as the starting
receiver alongside Bryan Edwards.
Jones has played just 21% of the offensive snaps this season with six catches for 115 yards and a TD. But he has made the most of his chances with the winning TD in overtime of the season opener against Baltimore and a key 43-yard catch against the Eagles two weeks ago.
“We have a high expectation for what Zay can bring us, just like what he’s brought us up to this point,” Bisaccia said. “So, we’re all going to get opportunities throughout the course of our careers and our time here, and again it’s how we respond to the opportunity given to us.”
With Saquon Barkley sidelined since spraining an ankle against Dallas on Oct. 8, former Raider Devontae Booker has become the Giants’ No. 1 running back. He had a career-best 125 total yards against Kansas City on Monday, rushing for 60 yards and catching five passes for 65 yards.
Booker, who signed with the Giants as a free agent in the offseason, has 216 yards rushing and 17 catches for 138 yards. He has three touchdowns — two rushing and one receiving. He had three TDs with Las Vegas last season.
“He has hit the ground running and last week, Monday night, he made a number of big plays for us and got us down the field,” Giants tight end Evan Engram said of Booker.