The Oakland Raiders' defensive unit is stocked with young and unproven talent. The few veterans were expected to play a large role in mentoring the younger players and helping develop that side of the roster. That plan took a hit a hit on Sunday when starting strong safety Tyvon Branch went down with an ankle injury leaving him out indefinitely.
Branch suffered the injury early in the first half and did not return for the remainder of the game. When players were being interviewed postgame, Branch's locker was already cleaned out and he was nowhere to be seen. Dennis Allen told media after that Branch suffered an ankle injury and the team would know more later. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports it is likely a fractured fibula that could keep Branch out for an extended period of time.
Losing Branch is a big hit for the Raiders. The safety was just one of two returning starters for the Raiders along with defensive end Lamarr Houston. Branch has been a starter since 2009. He recorded a sack in the team's first game against the Indianapolis Colts. Branch signed a franchise tag earlier in the offseason.
Branch was replaced by Brandian Ross and Usama Young throughout the game. Both recorded sacks on Sunday in the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Charles Woodson remains the other starter in the backfield for the Oakland Raiders so either player will be fighting for the starting spot next to the veteran. Young noted that the loss of Branch was a big hit for the team.
"I talked to him at the half, and it's tough because Tyvon is a great player," backup safety Usama Young said, via CSNBayArea.com. "You never want to see one of your own go down. He's been playing at a high level for a while. We'll talk to him tonight. Hopefully it's not too, too bad."
Allen appears to have full confidence that either player can step up in the absence of Branch no matter how long the veteran is out for. He and Woodson created one of the best safety tandems in the league, but Young and Ross have talent as reserve players.
"[Usama Young] is a guy that I've got a lot of knowledge of and a lot of experience with," said Allen. "We said from the very beginning that we felt good about our safety position, that we had some depth there, that we had some guys that could play safety in the NFL, and so any time you have a guy that goes down you've got to have some other guys to step up and I thought he did a nice job stepping up today as well as Brandian Ross today."
