Jacobs a possibility to play vs. Broncos
ALAMEDA >> Josh Jacobs could face the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Raiders coach Jon Gruden said Monday. Trayvon Mullen too, even after the scary sequence of the rookie corner leaving on a stretcher in a 24-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Same goes for slot corner Lamarcus Joyner, who left the Chargers game with a calf injury. Left guard Richie Incognito, who missed the game with an ankle injury, is questionable potentially available.
None of these things are a certainty, but it was a fairly encouraging initial report from Gruden
at his weekly press conference as the Raiders visit the Denver Broncos on Sunday in a game which could have postseason ramifications.
Chances are, the Raiders will go in to the game thinking they’ve got a chance. Without getting into every permutation, there’s a way they wouldn’t — but all it would take is for New England (12-3) to beat Miami (3-12) for the Raiders’ hopes to be alive despite a 7-8 record.
Then three things need to happen to give the Raiders the No. 6 seed with an 8-8 record — Houston
(10-5) beating Tennessee (8-8), Baltimore (13-2) beating Pittsburgh (8-7) and Indianapolis (7-8) beating Jacksonville (5-10). Those games will all be going on simultaneously with the RaidersBroncos game at 1:25 p.m. (PST).
Regardless, Gruden doesn’t plan on basing decisions on who plays and who doesn’t based on the possibility of making the postseason.
“We’re going to play the best players that we have available and try to win the game,” Gruden said “We don’t have enough bodies to rest players. We’re going to try and win the game in spite of the circumstances.”
Jacobs sat out the Chargers
game after a shoulder injury (he says it’s fractured) got worse after playing against Jacksonville. He has missed two of the past three games. DeAndre Washington (23 carries, 85 yards) stepped up in his absence, as did Jalen Richard, who had five carries for 11 yards but also a clutch 10-yard catch on fourth-and-2 after returning from an ankle injury earlier in the game.
Mullen, who was injured in a collision with teammate Curtis Riley, left on a cervical board and was strapped in, similar to former Raider Gareon Conley in Week 1 against the Broncos. Conley played the next week. Mullen might too.
“Got really good news on Trayvon Mullen,” Gruden said. “There’s a chance he could play this week.”
Denzelle Good filled in capably for Incognito, who was at the facility last week, occasionally wearing a protective boot but always under his own power and without a serious limp.
Gruden promises to be wearing blinders on the final Sunday of the regular-season with regard to other results.
“You can’t control what’s going on. We’ve got a lot of young players playing,” Gruden said. “We’ve been saying that from the beginning . . . if we can get some help, that will be great. It would be awesome.” HOLIDAY WEEK >> There was no practice or media access with players, their schedule altered during Christmas week. The Raiders will instead have their initial walkthrough Tuesday, which is normally a day off. Players will be excused Christmas Day, then resume practice Thursday and Friday.
COMPTON’S BIG DAY >> In his second game as a fulltime linebacker in place of Tahir Whitehead, Will Compton had a team-high 12 tackles — seven more than anyone else — and made an even
bigger impression with Gruden with his on-field presence.
“I went out there on the field to check on one of our players and he got on my case for not smiling, not having a good time,” Gruden said. “He’s a weird dude, man. He loves football. That’s why he fits in here. But he’s really made some plays and made an impact at a position where we really needed him.”
Since joining the Raiders on Oct. 30, Compton played a part-time role in six games before becoming defensive signal caller and playing every snap against Jacksonville. He played all 61 snaps against the Chargers.
WASHINGTON STEPS UP >> With a career-high 23 carries for 85 yards, Washington stepped in seamlessly for Jacobs and has become so reliable in terms of assignments he played up front for a snap on kick return team in a pinch.
“We came out to start the fourth quarter, we didn’t have enough guys for the kickoff return team, so we throw him out there on the front line,” Gruden said. “He just knows football, and those are the kind of guys that allow us to I think win a game like we did yesterday, because in a tough spot, we can ask him to do a number of things well and he did it.”
The carries were a career high — Washington said afterward he was ready for more -- and the yardage second to the 99 yards on 12 carries he had on Christmas Eve against the Indianapolis Colts.
“He got hurt last year in training camp, so we never really got to know him as close as we did this summer,” Gruden said. “When you’re around him, you see a guy that is really professional. He knows how to block, he knows exactly what to do and he can inside and out. He doesn’t make mistakes. He can run an array of routes. He’s comfortable in a noback formation, he’s comfortable behind the fullback
and he can run from an off-set position in the shotgun.”
EVALUATING CARR >> Quarterback Derek Carr completed 86.7 percent of his passes (26 for 30) against the Chargers, his third time over 80 percent this season. He’s currently completing 71.1 percent of his passes (332 for 467) yet has been fodder for unsubstantiated stories which indicate Gruden may be looking to replace him or place him in competition with a rookie when the club relocates to Las Vegas.
Gruden said the moving pieces around Carr this season haven’t made it more difficult in terms of evaluating his play going forward.
“It’s not hard. We spend a lot of time together,” Gruden said. “He’s done a lot of good things. I know there’s a lot of swirling reports out there. But Derek has done a great job. He’s done a heck of a job for us.” SHARPE BACK AT RIGHT TACKLE >> David Sharpe is back as the starting right tackle after replacing a struggling Brandon Parker in the second quarter against the Chargers.
Sharpe started against Green Bay on Oct. 20 in place of Trent Brown, who had an ankle injury, and played extensively against Detroit. When Brown got hurt again, however Sharpe was nursing a calf injury and Parker got the nod to replace Brown after a season-ending pectoral injury. Parker started against Tennessee and Jacksonville.
“We asked him to be a tight end going in to the game to give us a different look in the play-action passing game and in the running game,” Gruden said. “He’s not a great route-runner yet. Brandon Parker struggled, we made a change and right now the ball is in Sharpe’s corner. We plan on starting Sharpe. He deserves it.”
Gruden was kidding about the route-running, by the way. Sharpe is 6-foot-5 and 330 pounds.