Raiders wait on Brown, Jacobs, running game to dominate again
Trent Brown was back at practice Wednesday, but Josh Jacobs was not as the Raiders look to get their sagging running game back on track for the last quarter of the season.
It was Brown’s first practice since late October as he rejoined the starters in limited fashion. Jacobs, who missed Sunday’s 31-28 win over the New York Jets with an ankle injury, will have his availability determined today and Friday.
Whether they play Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, a significant part of the Raiders’ identity has been missing in action over the past three games and it’s difficult to envision a playoff push without the kind of steady forward progress which got them to 6-3.
The Raiders are 7-5 and the Colts are 8- 4 and currently holding the third and final wild-card spot in the AFC behind Cleveland (9-3) and Miami (8- 4).
“I haven’t been happy with the last couple games,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. “We can be optimistic, and we can be realistic. I’m going to be realistic. We’ve got to do a better job. We feed our families with our running game. We’ve got to be able to run out the clock at the end of a game like we did at Arrowhead. We’ve got to be able to convert in short yardage. We’ve got to do better and we made the effort to get better.”
Through Week 10, the Raiders were on a threegame win streak with the running game taking the lead. In wins over Cleveland, the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver, the Raiders ran for 572 yards and six touchdowns on 112 attempts, averaging 5.1 yards per carry.
The Raiders were ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing, fifth in attempts and fourth in first downs rushing
In the past three games, which included back- toback losses to Kansas City and Atlanta followed by a 31-28 win over the New York Jets, the Raiders rushed for 201 yards with two touchdowns on 65 attempts, averaging 3.1 yards per carry.
In Weeks 8 through 10, the Raiders ran the ball 112 times and passed it 72 times. In weeks 11 through 13, they passed the ball 112 times and ran it 65.
Going into the Colts game, the Raiders have dropped to 10th in the NFL in rushing and 11th in rushing first downs.
Power running has been a big part of Gruden’s philosophy in both tours with the Raiders as well as at Tampa Bay, and Colts coach Frank Reich doesn’t believe the past three games will deter him from sticking
with his philosophy.
“I just feel like that’s when they’re at their best,” Reich said on a conference call. “My guess is the way they want to operate is that run game, to get it going like it was going. I have no doubt that will be a top priority for them this week and we’re going to have to be at our best in our run defense.”
Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner agreed.
“We’ve got to stop the run, which is a big thing with their offense and their big O-line,” Buckner told reporters in Indianapolis. “They want to get downhill.”
And the Colts have been very good at stopping the run. They’re fifth in total defense and seventh against the run, giving up 100.9 yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry. The only back to have any success against them is Tennessee’s Derrick Henry, who had 103 yards on 19 carries in their first meeting and 178 yards on 27 attempts in the rematch.
Aside from Henry, no
back has exceeded 72 yards against the Colts.
Raiders guard Denzelle Good attributed the difficulties running the ball to the ups and downs of an NFL season.
“It’s always important to try and impose our will on a defense but things just don’t go perfect,” Good said. “You can make the perfect game plan but it isn’t always going to go that way. That’s just how it was the last couple of weeks. We felt we were out of synch in the run game but trying to make that an important point this week as far as getting it back together and re-establishing ourselves as a running team.”
The Raiders beat the Jets with Derek Carr throwing a season-high 47 passes to go along with 25 runs when ideally they’d be much closer to a 50-50 split.
“Balance makes my job a lot easier,” Carr said. “It makes the O-line’s job easier. If we can do that, it helps. Having balance opens up play-action more.
When you do drop back, they’re not just full- tilt, pinning their ears back. We want to run the ball well because it opens up a lot of things, but at the same way we’re in a singleelimination kind of mindset. Whatever we have to do to win it, let’s just do that.” BROWN’S RETURN >> Brown has played in just two games, three snaps in the opener and then all 70 on Oct. 11 against Kansas City. Between a calf injury and his bout with COVID-19 that resulted in health complications, his practice appearances have been few and far between. His teammates were pleased to see the 6-foot- 8, 380- pound right tackle well enough to give it a go.
Carr said it was “lovely” to have Brown on the field and credited the way the line has played in his absence. Brown, however, is someone who could make a big difference.
“There’s just so much more space to move,” Carr said. “He’s the best in the
world at what he does. You drop back, and there’s nothing there. You can manipulate people more, do more things as a quarterback. There’s more room in the run game and the pass game because he’s so dominant.”
• Safety Johnathan Abram ( knee) was limited at practice after missing the Jets game. That’s a good sign because safety Jeff Heath was out with a concussion and would have to be cleared medically to face the Colts. Also out with a concussion and neck injury was cornerback Damon Arnette.
• Cornerback Daryl Worley was officially signed to the roster, but Gruden said he won’t be available until the Raiders’ Week 15 game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
• Others who were limited at practice were cornerback Isaiah Johnson (groin), wide receiver Zay Jones (ankle), cornerback Nevin Lawson (knee/ankle) and defensive tackle Maurice Hurst (calf).