Although the Oakland Raiders have been dealt several crushing blows to their secondary in the 2019 NFL season, they seemingly managed to avert complete disaster with safety Lamarcus Joyner.
Joyner suffered a hamstring injury during the 26-24 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football in Week 10. Despite some initial concern regarding the severity of the injury, it has since not been deemed to be season-ending.
The Raiders were somewhat able to breathe a sigh of relief after it was revealed that safety Karl Joseph will miss the rest of the while sustaining a foot injury just three plays after Joyner went down. They are now holding out hope that the latter will be available in Week 11.
Raiders head coach Jon Gruden did not sound optimistic about Joyner’s chances of suiting up against the Bengals though, via Scott Bair of NBC Sports:
Jon Gruden said Lamarcus Joyner is “questionable at best” for Sunday.
— Scott Bair (@BairNBCS) November 13, 2019
Although it is encouraging to see Gruden holding out hope, his comments indicate that Joyner playing in the games against Cincinnati is far-fetched at this point. Regardless, the fact that it is even being considered is a positive sign that he is not feeling any lingering effects with the hamstring.
Joyner has done most of his bidding while working in the slot on nickel packaged in this Oakland defense, however, he could see his role increase now that they have lost both of their starters at safety. In order to do so, he will first need to ensure that he is more than up to the task.
After all, the Raiders made quite the investment when they signed Joyner to a four-year, $42 million contract this offseason. The last thing they want to do is rush him back and risk any further aggravation of the injury heading into the final stretch of the 2019 campaign.
As a result, they will need their depth to pick up the slack in the event that this secondary will be left without yet another key starter. Fortunately, Oakland has a favorable matchup with a winless Cincinnati team coming to town, which should allow them to find their footing.
The Raiders’ brass has been actively shopping the market to help fill the void and were able to bring in a few notable names safety D.J. Swearinger and defensive end Dion Jordan. Meanwhile, safety Erik Harris is also coming off a career-day that saw him pick off quarterback Philip Rivers twice and could be tasked to put on an encore performance this week.
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