Banged-up Raiders gear up for pivotal last 3 games
Buoyed by their win against the Cleveland Browns and the renewed playoff hopes it provided, a bleary-eyed group of Raiders gathered at their practice facility in Henderson on Tuesday to begin preparation for Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos.
They may have to do so without the services of strong safety Johnathan Abram, who suffered a shoulder injury Monday and underwent an MRI on Tuesday. His availability for Sunday is in question.
Meanwhile, tight end Darren Waller and linebacker Denzel Perryman, both of whom remained home this weekend nursing their injuries, will be evaluated throughout the week. The Raiders remain hopeful they can return against the Broncos.
Waller has missed the last three games with a knee injury. An ankle injury has sidelined Perryman the last two weeks.
“We’re hoping every day,” Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia said of the prognosis for both key starters. “I think they’ve made progress at different times, and then hit a little bit of a setback when they’ve pushed a little bit more, maybe on the field and tried to cut or change directions.
“We’re going to go into every week with those two hoping we can get them both. … Hopefully being at home, and them staying here over the weekend, can get them a little bit closer.”
Bucking a leaguewide trend, the Raiders had no players test positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
What the 7-7 Raiders lost in prep time for the Broncos after a whirlwind weekend along the banks of Lake Erie — remember, the NFL’s postponement of the Browns game from Saturday to Monday reduced from eight days to six the Raiders’ planning window for Denver — they more than gained back in positive energy.
As long a shot as at it might seem — as of right now the chances of making the playoffs sit at 11 percent — the Raiders did regain nearly full control of their postseason aspirations by beating the Browns.
Based on the New York Times playoff simulator, if they win their remaining three games against the Broncos, Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers, they push their playoff chances to 90 percent.
Under the same win-out scenario, that percentage would grow to 100 by the end of this week if the New Orleans Saints beat the 7-7 Miami Dolphins, the New England Patriots beat the 8-6 Buffalo Bills and the 8-6 Colts lose to the Arizona Cardinals.
“We’re excited that we’re relevant in December,” Bisaccia said. “That’s what we all try to do. We all want to get into the tournament. That’s part of it. We do know where we are, what the race looks like. We’re very respectful of that. But we still have to take care of our part.”
Part of which would require the Raiders turning things around at Allegiant Stadium, the site of two out of their last three games. The Raiders are 5-10 at home in Las Vegas.
To get where the Raiders want to go, they need to change that trend ASAP.
“We need to play better at home,” said Bisaccia. “I think we all know that. I think we’re excited about playing in our venue. We’ve got Raider Nation here. There’s been great energy when we’ve played in our stadium. I think it’s time for us to man up a little bit and play better at home.”
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.