Trayvon Mullen looks to move on vs. Dolphins

Raiders cornerback Trayvon Mullen’s strong sophomore season hit a major roadblock last week.

A great big yellow one.

The second-year pro out of Clemson was flagged four times for 58 yards, including two on the same play in the third quarter and a 20-yard pass interference in overtime to set up the winning score for the Chargers.

Mullen was called for just three penalties in his previous 13 games and has been one of the most reliable members of the Raiders’ secondary. He said he isn’t about to let the nightmarish night affect him.

“It never gets to me mentally,” Mullen said. “I know I’m a good player. I know what I bring to this team.”

The Raiders will need a strong bounce-back game from Mullen, particularly with several defensive regulars still questionable or limited this week.

One thing that has never been in doubt is his confidence, a trait sharpened by his days playing for national titles under Dabo Swinney in college.

“I know I’m a great player,” Mullen said. “I put it all on the line. I play to win. I play hard and aggressive and things happen. I know I’ve got to get better and learn from it.”

He will get a chance to show he learned his lesson when the Raiders host the Dolphins at Allegiant Stadium at 5:15 p.m. Saturday.

Here are three things to watch:

Moving on

Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli, who had just three days on the job before making his Raiders debut in the job against the Chargers, believes Mullen and the rest of the defense will bounce back.

“He’s really a coachable guy,” Marinelli said. “I love how competitive this guy is, and he’s been really good at times this year. Just helping him clean some of this stuff up. First, you bring it to a man’s attention, then you help him correct it.”

A similar principle applies as Marinelli endeavors to fix a defense largely responsible for the Raiders falling out of the playoff race.

“I thought there was improvement,” he said of the defense’s effort in the 30-27 loss to the Chargers. “I really like the fight in them. … I just thought they showed a ton of heart in that game toward the end. I just really loved how they kept playing.

“But we’ve got to win.”

Be aggressive

Jon Gruden elected to go for it on fourth down four times last week and was successful on each occasion.

The Raiders hadn’t attempted more than two conversions on fourth down in any other game this season and had only done it three times in the previous six games.

While they don’t get aggressive often, they have been successful. Las Vegas is 13 of 17 on fourth downs this season. The 76.5 percent conversion rate is second-best in the NFL.

Only the Dolphins (83.3 percent) have been better this season, though they have gone for it a league-low six times.

Not over yet

The Raiders now have about the same chance of making the postseason as they do hitting Megabucks at this point, but there is still plenty to accomplish in their final two games.

Coaches will be evaluating players for the offseason and players will be auditioning for jobs both with the Raiders and elsewhere in the league.

Dolphins’ coach Brian Flores has his team squarely in the mix for a postseason berth and knows the Raiders are still a dangerous opponent.

“I mean they’re well coached and they’re talented,” Flores said. “I think that in itself makes them dangerous. And they’ve won some games against some very good teams — the Chiefs, New Orleans, Cleveland. Those are pretty good teams, some of the top teams in the league. They’ve got a lot of good players. We have our work cut out for us.”

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