Photo courtesy of Ben Margot of the Associated Press
Yesterday’s loss to the Redskins was secondary news to the Raider Nation. The headliner that had many in a "headspin" was the indefinite loss of Raiders QB Bruce Gradkowski to a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and a partially torn MCL in his right. Gradkowski on suffering injuries to both knees: "I hurt my left knee in the first quarter on the first sack and kind of felt a pop but I didn’t think nothing of it. I just put a brace on it and kept going. The last play of the first half, it happened to my right knee and I heard a pop on that knee so then it was both knees. I tried taping it up for the second half but it wasn’t happening.”Asked on whether he’ll play again this season: “I don’t count myself out. You never need surgery with MCLs. I’ll try to get back, do whatever I can to get healthy fast if I could. That’s the only thing I worry about."
With Gradkowski going down; in came incumbent starter JaMarcus Russel and his unprecedented league low 47.7 quarterback rating. In just two quarters of relief, Russell connected on 10-of-16 passing attempts (0-TD and 1-INT) although the statistics show stark improvement the numbers are deceiving as he was under constant pressure (11 QB hurries and 6 sacks) and his lack of awareness to convert much needed first downs, led the way for the Redskins to pull away. Russell’s performance was so uninspiring that head coach Tom Cable pondered pulling Russell during the fourth quarter in favor of third-stringer Charlie Frye in hopes of sparking some much needed offensive flow.
When asked about naming his starter for next week’s showdown in Denver, “Let’s get to tomorrow and we’ll talk about that.” Attempting to sidestep the notion that he has lost complete confidence in Russell, “I thought it was a tough situation,” coach Tom Cable said. “You have to look at the film. Could he do better? Probably, but everybody could have.”
During post-game interviews coach Cable was asked about the overall performance of the team in yesterday’s loss: “Very disappointed, too many penalties, not enough flow offensively. Defensively, just really struggled it seemed like in the first half in the secondary and then we’re never able to come back and make a stand or do anything about it in the second half.”
NOTABLE INJURIES
QB Bruce Gradkowski: two torn MCLs on both knees. Season likely over.
TE Zach Miller left the game with head and shoulder injury. With a concussion suffered earlier in season, team doctors are concerned and Miller will be listed as “questionable”.
CB Nnamdi Asomugha suffered an injury to his right forearm on a blitz when he hit a helmet late in the first half. He returned late in the fourth quarter. “The arm just went dead. So we had to come in and take X-rays. They just feel like it’s more with the nerve. That’s why I went back in.” Nnamdi should be fine for next week.
FS Michael Huff suffered a stinger and did not return. Hiram Eugene replaced Huff and may get the start in Denver. Huff’s status is still uncertain but should be listed as probable during the week.
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