John Locher / AP
Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III stretches during training camp practice Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020, in Henderson.
Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020 | 2 a.m.
Let’s be realistic, the Raiders defense is not going to stop Kansas City on Sunday. The best Las Vegas can probably hope for is forcing one or two punts on the day, and then it will be up to the Derek Carr-led offense to score enough points to keep up.
The Raiders got some good news on that front this week, as the return of starting right tackle Trent Brown and rookie receiver Henry Ruggs should give the Las Vegas attack some extra juice when they take on Patrick Mahomes and the defending Super Bowl champions.
Brown’s presence up front will be a welcome addition. He missed almost all of training camp due to a calf injury, then reaggravated the injury on his first snap upon returning in Week 1. Brown left that game after three plays, and the running game has been lackluster without him.
Las Vegas was expected to field one of the NFL’s best offensive lines, but with a quarter of the season in the books the Raiders rank 15th in rushing yards (115.2 yards per game) and 18th in yards per attempt (4.2).
Brown participated in practice on Thursday and Friday and appears to be on track to play Sunday.
If the Raiders want to control the clock with a dominant ground game, having Brown back figures to be an important part of that strategy.
“It’s a big lift for the offense to have a starter of his quality and the caliber of player that he is,” offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. “He looked good this week. We eased him in during the week, but he’s had a good week.”
Brown didn’t reveal much about his status on Friday, and he said he expects some inflammation and discomfort between now and kickoff. But the fact that he practiced and met with the media seems to indicate he’ll suit up.
“We’ll see,” Brown said. “I have to work with the trainers after we travel and see what’s going on. It will be a game-time decision.”
While Brown will help the Raiders by doing the dirty work in the trenches, Ruggs’ return should provide some sizzle on the perimeter.
Like Brown, the rookie wideout was injured in Week 1 while pulling down a 45-yard bomb from Carr. Ruggs played in the Raiders’ Week 2 win over the New Orleans Saints but has been inactive since then.
Without Ruggs threatening defenses in the deep third of the field, the Las Vegas offense has shrunk. In last week’s loss to Buffalo, Carr threw almost exclusively short passes.
Carr had 49-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor wiped out by a procedure penalty. Other than that, he only attempted two other throws that traveled more than 20 yards in the air. One was a broken play on which Carr was able to find Hunter Renfrow down the right sideline for a 39-yard completion, and the other was a 46-yard heave intended for Agholor that drew a pass-interference penalty.
Both of those deep shots came in the final 6:20, by which time the Raiders were trailing by 14 points and in full desperation mode.
Ruggs should change that approach. Even if he is only targeted once or twice down the field, the Chiefs defense will have to account for him, thereby allowing more space for Las Vegas to operate near the line of scrimmage.
After Friday’s practice, head coach Jon Gruden was cautiously optimistic about Ruggs’ chances of getting on the field on Sunday.
“Ruggs is moving around better,” Gruden said. “I’m hopeful that he can play, but these are some players that have missed some time. So we have to see how it feels after a good workout.”
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
