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With the Raiders’ home opener in Las Vegas just three days away, they did not get any better news on the injury front on Friday.
Just like Thursday, key players who were injured in a win at Carolina in Week 1 were not on the practice field.
No Henry Ruggs III, Trent Brown, Sam Young or Nick Kwiatkoski again for the #Raiders at practice today. Richie Incognito is back out here after missing yesterday.
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) September 18, 2020
If none of these players practice Saturday. their chances of playing against the Saints on Monday night will lessen. Yet, longtime NFL reporter Adam Caplan tweeted that there is hope that rookie receiver Henry Ruggs II will face the Saints.
As of this AM, #Raiders still believed that Ruggs would be able to play Monday night. https://t.co/byL02EKQ0Q
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) September 18, 2020
None of this is overly surprising. Trent Brown (calf), Nick Kwiatkoski (pec) and Sam Young (groin) all left the Carolina game. While the Raiders reportedly got good news on Brown and Kwiatkoski in the long term, they may need some time to heal.
If I had to guess, I’d agree with Caplan that Ruggs will likely play, but he may not be 100%. But, it is pointing to Denzelle Good playing at right tackle and Cory Littleton playing middle linebacker for Kwiatkoski against the Saints. Nicholas Morrow would take Littleton’s spot at outside linebacker and Raekwon McMillan would likely play when the Raiders are in their 4-3 base defense.
Perhaps Saturday will bring better injury news for the Raiders. Meanwhile, the Saints have their own injury issues.
No Michael Thomas, no Marcus Davenport again for Day 2 of the practice week.
— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) September 18, 2020
UPDATE: This may be encouraging.
"Nick [Kwiatkoski] looks really good right now." - #Raiders DC Paul Guenther
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) September 18, 2020
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