Raiders’ defense in COVID dilemma.
Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther could have lied, said it was no big deal and that taking on one of the best offenses and quarterbacks the league has ever seen could be accomplished as easily with an IPad as with actual practice time.
But then, no one would have believed him, including his players.
Sunday: Chiefs at Raiders, 5:20 p.m., NBC
Guenther instead spoke the unvarnished truth, with 10 defensive players in COVID-19 isolation and unable to practice heading into Sunday night’s game against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
“I don’t know how we can beat these guys with a full lineup at practice, let alone with three- quarters of your lineup not being here all week,” Guenther said Thursday at his video conference. “We’re playing the world champs. They’ve got a great quarterback, great receivers, a great tight end. The line’s physical, and they’re coming off a bye. So it’s a daunting task.
“I know one thing. We’re going to go 100%. We’ll get these guys ready to play. Whoever’s out there at 5:20 (p.m.) will be ready to go.”
The hope is eight Raiders — strong
safety Johnathan Abram, slot corner Lamarcus Joyner, defensive tackle Maliek Collins, defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, cornerback Isaiah Johnson, defensive end Arden Key, defensive end/tackle Kendal Vickers and defensive end David Irving — will be cleared before kickoff Sunday through daily negative COVID-19 tests.
Irving is presently on the practice squad but could be promoted depending on who is available.
Defensive end Clelin Ferrell, who tested positive for the virus, resulting in contract tracing for most of the others, won’t play. The status of Cory Littleton, who preceded Ferrell on the COVID-19 list, is not known but he may not play either.
A lot of Raiders fans who have just begun to tolerate Guenther over the past three weeks will be jumping ship at an assessment that isn’t defeatist as much as it’s realistic. If you believe practice matters, then taking on the best team in football without a good chunk of your defense during the week is a big ask.
Beating the Chiefs the first time was hard enough, and it happened in part because the Raiders defense played some of its best football in the second half of a 40-32 win. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense managed just three punts and an interception on their first four possessions of the second half before scoring a late touchdown with the Raiders leading 40-24.
Now the Raiders have to do it a second time with a skeleton crew at practice.
“It’s definitely a little different,” linebacker Nicholas Morrow said in a video conference. “A lot of the starting guys are not in there. But it’s a next-guy-up mentality. Just got to adjust to it and hope those guys get back real soon.”
Players will be connected virtually through video conferences. They’ll have access to all practice film as well as equipment to work out and stay in shape.
“We have a plan for all those things,” Guenther said. “This is all new, really, for all of us, having this many guys out. We’ll keep their conditioning at a high level, make sure they’re watching the practice film, maybe hearing guys on practice film that are miked up so they’re on point.”
The Raiders went through a similar crisis going into their Oct. 25
game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when the entire offensive line was out following a positive COVID-19 test by Trent Brown. Kolton Miller, Denzelle Good, Rodney Hudson and Gabe Jackson didn’t practice all week and were cleared to play on game day and with Sam Young starting in place of Brown.
The Raiders lost to the Bucs 4520. They rushed for 76 yards on 24 carries, their lowest total of the season, and Derek Carr was sacked three times.
While having one unit out in its entirety was obviously a problem, Guenther’s got people missing in every area.
“The offense had one position group that was kind of devastated,” Guenther said. “We have guys at all three levels of our defense that aren’t here practicing and in the meetings, where we can look them in the eye or take them through things on the practice field. We’ve got to do the best we can as coaches, getting information out to players, spending more time after practice on the zoom meetings.”
Having so many defensive players out also impacts the ability of the offense to properly prepare, with players who usually practice with the scout team instead working as first-team players.
“Because they’re down, you can’t ask the guys that they have right now practicing to also give us a look (on offense),” offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. “It leaves you thin in terms of your preparation. We
went through it a couple of weeks ago when the offensive line missed the entire week. It’s not a premiere situation or something you want to go through, but we’ve managed to make it work.”
MORROW’S PROGRESS >> Morrow, coming off his best game against Denver, is one of only four defensive players on the roster who was around in 2018 when Guenther came aboard with coach Jon Gruden, joining Hankins, safety Erik Harris and linebacker/special teams player Kyle Wilber.
“Before I can even walk up to him to make a correction, he’ll say, ‘I should have done this, hey, I saw this,’ ” Guenther said. “It’s the little detail things that he’s really becoming an expert on and that’s what takes you from a good player to a great player and that’s the trend he’s moving on.”
THE INFIRMARY >> Running back Jalen Richard missed practice again with a chest injury and could be ruled out today for the Chiefs game. After Richard was injured, rookie Henry Ruggs III took over returning kickoffs and had one return for 21 yards.
Tackle Miller (ankle) and Maurice Hurst (ankle) were both limited for the second straight day, a good sign in that there were no setbacks and both could be available to face Kansas City. Also limited were fullback Alec Ingold (ribs) and Young ( knee/ back). Cornerback Keisean Nixon (groin) went from limited to a full participant.