Injuries continuing to derail Raiders’ season

The Las Vegas Raiders have their fair share of issues at the moment.

Sitting at 2-8 and suffering their sixth straight loss at the hands of the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, the Raiders are in a situation where they are playing strictly for pride the rest of the season. In the game against the Dolphins, another problem that has plagued the Raiders all season long reared its ugly head again: the injury bug.

In the first half, starting cornerback Jakorian Bennett was removed from the game with a shoulder injury and did not return. As the fourth quarter rolled along, he would be joined on the injury report by fellow starting corner Jack Jones, as well as running backs Zamir White and Alexander Mattison.

All four are significant players for the Raiders, and they join a rapidly growing injury report. While this week’s practice will shed more light on the current situation, they should all be considered questionable for the Raiders’ Week 12 clash against the Denver Broncos.

Since before the season even began, the Raiders have simply been unable to field a healthy team. Edge rusher Malcolm Koonce suffered a season-ending knee injury days before the season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. Safety Marcus Epps tore his ACL during the Raiders’ Week 3 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Prized free agent defensive lineman Christian Wilkins suffered a Jones fracture in Week 5 against the Broncos, and the timetable on his recovery is still unclear. In Week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams, quarterback Aidan O’Connell fractured his thumb and was placed on injured reserve with the expectation of returning later this season.

Recent times have also been unkind to the Raiders in the injury department, as starting slot cornerback Nate Hobbs and starting offensive linemen Andre James and Cody Whitehair were ruled inactive prior to kickoff against the Dolphins.

The Raiders will have to dig deep to push this season back to some level of respectability, but the repeating wave of injuries is only making that objective more difficult.