The Las Vegas Raiders are now less than a couple of days away from their Week 2 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. Head coach Josh McDaniels is dealing with some key injuries, though no long-term decision has been made regarding their futures. Most notably, Andre James and Trevon Moehrig have been out all week, though they’ve been at the Raiders’ facilities, according to the coach. As far as the team’s home-opener on Sunday: neither is ruled out as of yet.
As far as an actual update, McDaniels did not offer anything conclusive. Rather, he’s giving the players every chance to make it to Sunday’s game.
“Nothing. Yeah, I think until they tell me, we can’t do it [or] we’re not just going to make it. The reason I say that is because I have too much respect for these guys and what they put into trying to get back before I make a knee-jerk decision prior to letting them have every opportunity to do that. So they’re finishing up some things right now, and we’ll see what, if anything, they can do today.”
Raiders News: What if Andre James and Trevon Moehrig can’t go?
McDaniels did specify and made it clear that the players were still going through their protocols. Not trying to rush any decision, the head coach is really giving his players every chance to come back. In addition, he also mentioned, for what it’s worth, that as soon as they know, they’ll let everyone else know via their report. As most Raiders fans are aware by now, this coaching staff doesn’t offer much in the way of tidbits. They keep everything close to the vest, straight shooters.
If James isn’t cleared, all signs point to rookie Dylan Parham getting the starting nod. It would be just his second NFL game, going up against a blitz-heavy Cardinals team. Talk about a trial by fire. As for Moehrig, the Raiders would presumably start Duron Harmon and Johnathan Abram at their safety slots.
Raiders News: Moehrig, James Absent, Per Beat Writer
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*Top Photo: AP Photo/Rick Scuteri