The Oakland Raiders are dealing with injuries to some of their key players. As the team searches for consistency on offense, both Terrelle Pryor and running back Darren McFadden are dealing with serious injuries that are setting the team back. Both players continue to get worse each week, leaving Dennis Allen nervous for the future.
Pryor's injury is the first major concern for the Raiders. The quarterback first injured his knee against the Philadelphia Eagles and aggravated it against the New York Giants. Officially diagnosed with an MCL sprain, Allen believes the injury is more severe than the team first realized.
"When you watch the game, I didn't look at it and think that that was really the limitation that held us back there," Allen said, via the Contra Costa News. "It was obvious that there wasn't that explosiveness that we had seen out of him prior to the injury. I'll sit down and visit with Terrelle a little bit more and find out exactly where he is physically. It wasn't something that we thought was going to be a big factor going into the game. But, obviously, it was a factor."
Pryor noted that he did feel hampered by his knee in both games. It was clear the quarterback was nowhere near as explosive as he was earlier in the season. Against the Giants, he went just 11 of 26 in passing for 122 yards, while only rushing for 19 yards on five carries. That is a far cry from what he has been seen doing in earlier weeks.
With Pryor and McFadden suffering, Rashad Jennings is picking up the slack. The backup running back has put up 190 yards rushing and 93 yards receiving in two games as the replacement for McFadden. Those sort of numbers have Allen saying the running back will be the starter whether McFadden is healthy or not against the Houston Texans.
"It's a production business," Allen said, "and when he's had the opportunity to go in there, he has produced. When you do that, you get more opportunities."
The question now becomes what will Oakland do at the quarterback position. The only other active quarterback is undrafted free agent Matt McGloin. Tyler Wilson is on the practice squad and could get upgraded later in the week if Pryor looks uncertain for the Week 11 Sunday matchup.
