The Oakland Raiders put a lot of stock into Latavius Murray this season in hopes that he would turn out to be the workhorse running back the team desperately needed. With Darren McFadden and Maurice Jones-Drew out of the picture, the run game was on the shoulders of Murray. So far, the running back has been living up to the expectations, but a poor performance in Week 4 as his status with the team in doubt.
Murray had some costly fumble issues against the Chicago Bears. The running back had just 49 yards off 16 carries while he lost one carry and could not hold on to a pass that ended up going for an interception. At the end of the game, the fourth quarter drive went to backup Roy Helu instead of Murray after the mistakes. While some were under the belief that Helu could get the start in Week 5, but head coach Jack Del Rio said that Murray will remain the starter as his confidence in the running back's ability to bounce back is high.
"I remain confident," Del Rio said, via Raiders.com. "We have some good young players. None of us our perfect. We all are capable of making mistakes. I think the sooner you own up to mistakes, the quicker you can put them behind you and move forward." I know we have some really good, young, talented football players that are not going to be. We're going to put them in situations, expecting them to play well. If they don't, they'll learn from it, we'll move forward."
Murray took the loss on his shoulders after the two turnovers. Things will not get easy as the Raiders prepare to face the Denver Broncos with their tough defense. Running against the Broncos will not be easy as Murray will need to put the mistakes behind him quickly.
The Raiders should have a healthy receiving corps entering the Week 5 game. Michael Crabtree suffered an ankle injury during the game against the Bears. According to ESPN's Bill Wiliamson, the issue is not serious and Crabtree is expected to be back at practice along with participating in the game against the Broncos. That is good news for quarterback Derek Carr who will utilize Crabtree and Amari Cooper heavily against the tough defensive front of the Broncos. Carr will need more production from his other receiver options including Andre Holmes, Seth Roberts and Rod Streater who had a disappearing act in Week 4.
