Completed NFL season comes as surprise to Raiders’ Gruden

Raiders coach Jon Gruden didn’t expect to be preparing for a meaningless game in the season finale, especially after such a promising start to the season.

To be fair, there was a time he didn’t expect to be getting his team ready for a Week 17 game at all.

The NFL is on the verge of getting through this COVID-stricken season without a canceled or forfeited game, a feat Gruden said was difficult to imagine in the summer when so much of the sports world was still in doubt.

Gruden was surprised the Raiders made it to the end of the season, he said Wednesday as his team began preparations to play at Denver on Sunday. “I credit the NFL; I credit all the organizations around the league. I credit the players, the trainers, everybody affiliated for doing everything possible to finish.”

It wasn’t easy. The Broncos played one game without an active quarterback. The Raiders have played without large portions of their defense or offensive line. The Browns may miss out on a playoff appearance in large part because all of their wide receivers missed last week’s loss to the lowly Jets as high-risk close contacts.

“It’s not always equitable. It’s not always fair,” Gruden said. “But I really compliment all hands-on deck for really doing everything possible to give us a season and give us a chance.”

Quarterback Derek Carr had his own doubts about whether there would be a season, but he was able to alleviate them early in the campaign.

“I think once we played that first game, I was confident we’d finish,” he said. “At what capacity or what that’d look like, I didn’t know. Obviously, we’re all finding out on the fly together still. … Hopefully, we can finish with a win this time in Denver.”

Of course, Carr and Gruden thought they’d be playing beyond just 16 regular-season games. Expectations were high that this game against the Broncos would still be relevant in the playoff race.

Instead, they are left to play out the string and hope to avoid spending the entire offseason sitting on a loss.

Carr, however, has no intention to rest his injured groin regardless of the stakes.

“I’m going to play and I’ll be ready to play no matter what I go through,” he said.

Witten remains undecided

Tight end Jason Witten will pass Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez for most games played by a tight end in the NFL should he appear in Sunday’s game as expected.

It would seem to provide a perfect opportunity for the 38-year-old to walk off into the sunset, but the longtime Cowboys star isn’t ready to make any formal announcements.

“I haven’t really arrived at anything with certainty,” he said Wednesday. “I’ll take some time after the season to figure all that out.”

Witten and Gonzalez have both played in 270 career games. Witten retired before the 2018 season and went into broadcasting for a season, only to return to Dallas in 2019.

Transactions

Defensive lineman Clelin Ferrell, who has missed the last two games with a shoulder injury, has been placed on injured reserve.

Defensive back Daryl Worley was activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list, though running back Jalen Richard was added.

Safety Jeff Heath has been designated for return from injured reserve after missing three games.

Injury report

Offensive linemen Trent Brown (knee) and Denzelle Good (ankle) missed practice on Wednesday, and tackle Sam Young was limited by a knee injury.

Center Rodney Hudson and guard Gabe Jackson got rest days.

Defensive tackle Maurice Hurst (calf) and defensive back Lamarcus Joyner (thigh) were non-participants.

Linebacker Nicholas Morrow, who was activated from the COVID list on Tuesday, practiced in full as he works his way back from a concussion.

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