You know a team is desperate for help at a position when they sign a player less than a week before and he plays every snap. Such was the case for linebacker Perry Riley Jr who the Raiders added this week as a free agent.
The Raiders lost two linebackers to injury in last week's game. First Malcolm Smith left the game with a quad injury. He was replaced by Ben Heeney who lasted about a quarter before being lost to an ankle injury. Heeney was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury and replaced on the roster by Perry Riley Jr. Malcolm Smith was active for the game, but having missed two of three practices this week, he was only going to play if needed.
So, Riley -- the former leading tackles in Washington -- started for the Raiders. And subsequently led the Raiders in tackles. He had 7 combined tackles (6 solo) and a forced fumble in the game that stopped what would have been a Chargers scoring drive to begin the game.
"Veteran guy. He's got fire," said Jack Del Rio. "You can just see the fire in him and his desire to soak up everything he could this week and be prepared to help us today."
Riley is a former 4th round pick who played six seasons in Washington. He was second on the team in tackles in 2012 behind only tackle machine London Fletcher and led the team in tackle in 2013. He broke his foot late last season and the Washington football club moved on from him.
Odd to think a player like him would just be sitting on his couch waiting to be signed. But the Raiders are pretty glad he was.
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Off. | Def. | ST | ||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
| Donald Penn | T | 72 | 99% | 0 | 0% | 7 | 23% |
| Gabe Jackson | G | 72 | 99% | 0 | 0% | 7 | 23% |
| Kelechi Osemele | G | 72 | 99% | 0 | 0% | 7 | 23% |
| Derek Carr | QB | 72 | 99% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Rodney Hudson | C | 72 | 99% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Amari Cooper | WR | 65 | 89% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Vadal Alexander | G | 61 | 84% | 0 | 0% | 5 | 17% |
| Michael Crabtree | WR | 53 | 73% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Seth Roberts | WR | 51 | 70% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Mychal Rivera | TE | 47 | 64% | 0 | 0% | 14 | 47% |
| DeAndre Washington | RB | 37 | 51% | 0 | 0% | 9 | 30% |
| Denver Kirkland | G | 27 | 37% | 0 | 0% | 2 | 7% |
| Jalen Richard | RB | 23 | 32% | 0 | 0% | 7 | 23% |
| Andre Holmes | WR | 22 | 30% | 0 | 0% | 17 | 57% |
| Jamize Olawale | FB | 22 | 30% | 0 | 0% | 17 | 57% |
| Austin Howard | T | 11 | 15% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Ryan O'Malley | TE | 7 | 10% | 0 | 0% | 13 | 43% |
| Johnny Holton | WR | 5 | 7% | 0 | 0% | 16 | 53% |
| Jon Feliciano | G | 1 | 1% | 0 | 0% | 13 | 43% |
| Cory James | LB | 0 | 0% | 51 | 98% | 3 | 10% |
| Perry Riley | LB | 0 | 0% | 51 | 98% | 1 | 3% |
| Reggie Nelson | FS | 0 | 0% | 51 | 98% | 0 | 0% |
| Karl Joseph | SS | 0 | 0% | 50 | 96% | 7 | 23% |
| Sean Smith | CB | 0 | 0% | 50 | 96% | 0 | 0% |
| David Amerson | CB | 0 | 0% | 50 | 96% | 0 | 0% |
| Bruce Irvin | LB | 0 | 0% | 47 | 90% | 6 | 20% |
| Khalil Mack | DE | 0 | 0% | 46 | 88% | 6 | 20% |
| D.J. Hayden | CB | 0 | 0% | 31 | 60% | 7 | 23% |
| Dan Williams | DT | 0 | 0% | 28 | 54% | 6 | 20% |
| Denico Autry | DE | 0 | 0% | 24 | 46% | 6 | 20% |
| Stacy McGee | DT | 0 | 0% | 23 | 44% | 6 | 20% |
| Jihad Ward | DE | 0 | 0% | 21 | 40% | 7 | 23% |
| Justin Ellis | NT | 0 | 0% | 19 | 37% | 0 | 0% |
| Shilique Calhoun | LB | 0 | 0% | 9 | 17% | 17 | 57% |
| Darius Latham | NT | 0 | 0% | 8 | 15% | 6 | 20% |
| Daren Bates | LB | 0 | 0% | 1 | 2% | 23 | 77% |
| Keith McGill | FS | 0 | 0% | 1 | 2% | 17 | 57% |
| Brynden Trawick | FS | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 23 | 77% |
| Sebastian Janikowski | K | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 14 | 47% |
| TJ Carrie | CB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 13 | 43% |
| Jon Condo | LS | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 33% |
| Marquette King | P | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 33% |
| Antonio Hamilton | CB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 8 | 27% |
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