Raiders report: Defense prepares to deal with Chiefs’ newest weapon

The Raiders are quite familiar with the Chiefs and the challenges their division rivals present heading into Sunday’s game at Allegiant Stadium.

They do have to prepare for a new wrinkle, however.

Kansas City added DeAndre Hopkins in a trade this week, and the Chiefs intend to play him Sunday.

“Why wait, right?” coach Andy Reid said of unleashing his team’s newest weapon.

The addition of Hopkins gives the Raiders more to think about when game-planning against the Chiefs’ potent offense, but Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said he is just one piece of the defensive puzzle the Raiders have to solve this week.

“You’re talking about a proven vet that’s been in multiple systems,” Pierce said. “It’s not going to take him a long time to learn it, but just to get him up to speed. … No disrespect to (Hopkins), this offense still goes through (Travis Kelce) and (Xavier Worthy) now down the field vertically.”

Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is the one mainly tasked with preparing for a Chiefs offense that could look a little different than what’s been seen on tape with the addition of Hopkins.

Graham said the Chiefs are most effective when they are spreading the ball around and keeping defenses off balance, and he believes they will do a good job finding a way to use Hopkins somewhere between their deep threats and underneath possession receivers.

“I just think they do such a good job of utilizing their people,” Graham said. “And I’m sure (Hopkins) is going to come in there and they’re going to find a role for him for the game, but we’re just going to have to adjust as the game goes on.”

Adjustments will be key once the Raiders get a chance to see how the Chiefs are deploying Hopkins, but they just still go in with a plan.

“As a coach, part of the prep is an educated guess,” Graham said. “So, through the film study, the history with the offensive coordinator and the history of the team you’re trying to figure out, you take an educated guess where they’re going to plug him into the offense.

“… But again, (Hopkins) has been so productive in this league over his career. He’s a problem, and he’s a proven producer in this league. And we’ve just got to figure out when he’s out there, we’ve got to know where he’s at and address him accordingly.”

Injury report

A day after finally getting back on the practice field as he continues to try to work his way back from an ankle injury, wide receiver Jakobi Meyers was listed as a non-participant Thursday.

While it doesn’t necessarily mean there was a setback, it certainly tempers the optimism about his potential availability for Sunday.

Meyers, who is expected to be the top receiver now that Davante Adams has been traded, has missed the past two games.

Defensive end Maxx Crosby also missed Thursday’s session as he continues to manage his workload due to an ankle injury that he has been able to play through the past few weeks.

Offensive tackle Kolton Miller (elbow) and defensive tackle Adam Butler (hip) were full participants Thursday. Guard Dylan Parham (foot) and tight end Harrison Bryant (elbow) missed another day of practice.

Emergency quarterback

The Raiders replenished their quarterback room this week by bringing in Desmond Ridder, but they nearly had to get creative at the position had they suffered another injury last week.

Wide receiver Tyreik McAllister would have entered the game at quarterback had backup Gardner Minshew been injured.

“When they told me before the game, I didn’t really think about it,” McAllister laughed. “Then Aidan (O’Connell) went down, and I was like, ‘Oh, OK. This might be real.’ That’s when it started going through my head that I might have to get ready and take some snaps.”

McAllister played quarterback in high school and got on the offensive staff’s radar as a potential emergency signal-caller when he played the role of Lamar Jackson for the scout team before this season’s game against Baltimore.

Meyers would typically serve as the emergency quarterback, but he has been injured the past few weeks.

“We had a couple plays ready to run just for me,” said McAllister, who indicated he would have lobbied to throw the ball at least once. “It was going to be all right. I was ready.”

Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy is relieved it didn’t come to that.

“I don’t know the exact number (of plays we had for him in the playbook), but it wasn’t very many,” Getsy said. “That was one of those moments, right? You panic as a coordinator. When I was a quarterback coach, usually the quarterback coach is in charge of that process, so you get your Friday work in that you do, and yeah. That’s never something you ever want to touch, but we were pretty close right there.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.