On the eve of week 5 of the 2011 NFL regular season, numerous Raiders player injuries are causing many outside of the Raider nation to predict that the team will lose their early season momentum. The 2-2 Raiders, one game away from leading their division, play the 3-1 Houston Texans, after a week of practice the team has listed a staggering 15 players on the injured list. With a list that long, its amazing that fan are still purchasing Raiders tickets for the next game.
If there is a silver lining to this extensive Raiders player injuries report, it’s that five of the players; three safeties with knee injuries, Michael Mitchell , Jerome Boyd and Tyron Branch, and running backs, Michael Bush (ankle) and Taiwan Jones (calf) ended the week with full practice participation, and are listed as probable starters against the Texans. Additionally, quarterback Jason Campbell (foot) and defensive end Jarvis Moss (chest) had limited practice participation, and they are listed as, probable.
One can’t help but wonder if there was some kind of curse placed on the Raider’s safeties, because a fourth safety, Michael Huff, nursing an ankle injury, only saw limited practice time this week and is listed as questionable. Wide receiver, Louis Murphy, also had limited practice time and is listed as questionable.
In this week’s Raiders player injuries report, the running backs were almost as banged up as the safeties. A third RB on the list is Michael Huff. With his ankle problem, he had limited practice participation, and is listed as only questionable to see action against Houston.
That still leaves five more names on this week’s Raiders player injuries list, none of whom were able to practice in any capacity, and 3 that are definitely not going to dress for the game. Two of them are listed of questionable to see any playing time this week.
Linebacker Ricky Brown’s concussion is expected to most likely keep him sidelined this week, and cornerback Chimdi Chekwa’s hamstring issue, is making his chance of seeing any playing time against the Texans, iffy, at best
With 15 players injured, the Raiders are somewhat fortunate, that only 3 team members saw no practice participation, and are definitely not playing in the game against Houston. Tight end Richard Gordon is nursing a hand injury. Cornerback Chris Johnson is dealing with a nagging hamstring problem. Defensive end Matt Shaughnessy’s shoulder is the reason he won’t be playing on Sunday.
Gordon is a rookie out of the University of Miami. His presence should not be missed sorely since his early NFL playing time has been extremely limited, with only one catch for two yards. The loss of Chris Johnson is more tangible. He has a forced fumbled this season, and eleven tackles.
Matt Shaughnessy has a sack on the season, thus far, to go along with seven tackles. All in all, when you consider the number of players on this week’s Raiders player injuries report, you’d have to say the team dodged a bullet. You can bet the 0-4 Colts would gladly match that injury list, if they could have Peyton Manning healthy.
