Health will be the critical x-factor to the Oakland Raiders season. While the team has shown promise this year, they cannot afford injuries. The Raiders entered their bye week a little banged up as they aim for a full roster in Week 7. That includes Latavius Murray who sat out most of the game against the Denver Broncos, but is aiming to be fully healthy for Sunday.
According to CBS Sacramento, Murray is healthy coming out of the bye week as he dealt with shoulder injuries against the Broncos. The running back has been struggling some as the offensive sits unbalanced. It seems the Raiders cannot get the passing game and run game working well at the same time and head coach Jack Del Rio made it a priority to iron out details during the bye week. The head coach is confident that the timing will be better as they prepare to play the San Diego Chargers.
"You're working on double teams and being able to come off and just some of the little nuances that make the running game go where you do it a little bit better and it turns into an eight-yard gain instead of a three or four-yard gain," Del Rio said, via CBS Sports. "It's what you're after - creating the space and the opportunity for our backs. We've had some examples when we've done it pretty well and we haven't been quite as good as we looked to be. The encouraging thing is we've converted enough on third down to have enough opportunities. If you're getting 25, 26 runs in a game you're getting a decent amount of opportunities to run it, so, that's a positive."
The Raiders are hopeful to get Roy Helu and Marcel Reece working in as well while Taiwan Jones returns from a foot injury. Jones has been critical in the passing and rushing game for the Raiders as he has been a solid spark for the offense. According to ESPN, he is back after missing two games with a foot injury. Jones has two receiving touchdowns on the season and will be a welcomed target for Carr to work with.
The passing game has been a two-man show with Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. While that is what the fans expected, the Raiders must do a better job of working in players like Seth Roberts and Andre Holmes in order to better play against opposing defenses. That could be tough with how well both Cooper and Crabtree are playing at the moment.
