Raiders lose top two running backs to ankle injuries

Darren McFadden left the game in the second quarter with his ankle injury and was taken to the locker room. X-rays came up negative but he didn't return to the game. As we know, X-rays don't mean much often times. For instance, X-rays came up negative last season on his foot even though he was lost for the season with a Lis franc foot injury.

McFadden was replaced in the game by Mike Goodson but he too would leave the game after about a quarter of action. The diagnosis following the game was a sprained ankle. We don't know yet whether it is a high ankle sprain or not. He was replaced by Marcel Reece and later Taiwan Jones saw action as well.

The result of McFadden leaving the game as well as Goodson was the Raiders finishing with 17 total rushing yards in the game. They were also throwing the ball a lot due to the Buccaneers three third quarter touchdowns. But not having a legitimate running threat contributed as well.

"Yeah, when you lose your top two runners, yeah it limits you." said Dennis Allen. "We had Marcel in at the end of the game running some tailback plays in there so... yeah when we have injuries, it changes what you're able to do."

This leaves the team with just two healthy running backs on the team-- Marcel Reece and Taiwan Jones. Reece doesn't have an issue with that.

"Go to work." said Reece of what to do if the team loses both McFadden and Goodson. "We have a lot of playmakers on this team. We'll continue to pray for our teammates and hope that everybody has a speedy recovery. We don't know what any issues are right now but after we find that out, we go to work."

Reece is a fullback by trade which makes Taiwan Jones the only other actual tailback on this roster and they have gone away from him in the run game completely. If McFadden and/or Goodson are out for even one game, they may have to consider adding a running back to the roster. We'll know more Monday.