Raiders cornerback Gareon Conley in concussion protocol

Next Monday when the Raiders face the Denver Broncos, they may do so without their top corner. Gareon Conley went up for a pass defended in the third quarter against the Bengals and his head slammed on the turf when he came down. He suffered a concussion on the play, left the game and didn’t return.

“Gareon Conley is in the concussion protocol,” Jon Gruden said Monday. “We’re concerned about him. We’ll hopefully find more information regarding his status for this game in the next couple days.”

When Gruden thinks a player will be ok, he says so. Saying he’s concerned is...well, it’s concerning. One good thing is the Raiders will have an extra day to see if he can recover, but concussions can be highly unpredictable.

Conley has been the Raiders best cornerback the past few weeks, so his loss would be significant. The Raiders pass defense has struggled all season, mostly due to a complete lack of a pass rush. The job of the corners is hard enough without losing their best player.

Should he not be able to go, the starters would be Daryl Worley and Rashaan Melvin with Nick Nelson playing the slot.