Andre James steps up for depleted Raiders offensive line
OAKLAND, Calif. — Raiders centers Andre James and Rodney Hudson spend a great deal of time together in the offensive line room discussing protection calls and breaking down opposing defenses.
Those conversations were mostly moved to the training room this week as both were trying to recover from ankle injuries suffered in Houston last Sunday.
“We’ve been in treatment together just talking about how we’re feeling as well as what defenses we’re facing,” James said after playing through the pain in Sunday’s 31-24 win over Detroit at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. “It’s good talking to him and picking his brain as well because he’s a great center.”
It’s especially worthwhile for James, a tackle who is learning a new trade in the NFL. Not only did James discuss the nuances of the position this week with Hudson, the two got to compare notes on whether either would be healthy enough to play against the Lions.
Hudson’s streak of 60 consecutive games played officially came to an end when the decision was made to hold him out and deactivate him on Sunday. James, along with the trainers and coaching staff, decided on Saturday he would be able to give it a go.
He helped the Raiders’ offense produce 450 yards on a day when right tackle Trent Brown left in the first quarter with a knee injury and did not return.
David Sharpe replaced Brown, who came back for a few plays on the drive after he was hurt before he was shut down the rest of the day.
Through it all, the Raiders entered Sunday having not allowed a sack in three consecutive games. It was finally snapped when the Lions got to Carr, but it only happened once.
“It’s just next man up,” said James, an undrafted rookie out of UCLA. “I feel like we did a good job keeping Derek (Carr) upright, but there’s always room for improvement. I thought David did a good job of coming in and picking up where Trent left off.”
It wasn’t a perfect day for James, who delivered several shotgun snaps low and even sent one bouncing past Carr for what could have been a disastrous play in the red zone had the quarterback not corralled it and thrown it away.
“I only had the one practice on Friday and that was it,” James said of a week when neither he nor Hudson was able to practice on Wednesday or Thursday. “It’s definitely something to clean up going forward. Getting used to snapping has been a journey. It’s a new position, but I love it.”
The plan for the Raiders was to have guard Richie Incognito slide over to play center had both James and Hudson been out.
“I think Richie would have done a good job in that scenario, but I didn’t want to have to do that to him. I don’t think he wanted that either,” James said with a laugh.
Coach Jon Gruden didn’t have an update on Brown’s status after the game.
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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
