The Las Vegas Raiders are in the midst of their bye week, and they clearly need to shake some things up. The team is 2-5 and got shut out by the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7.
At the start of the bye week, the Raiders decided to bring in several players for workouts. Wide receivers Mecole Hardman, Hal Presley and D.J. Turner all received workouts. They also worked out running back Israel Abanikanda and offensive guard Layden Robinson.
While Turner and Robinson were the two players who got signed, the most notable workout was Hardman. He was a key player for the Chiefs in years past and was named Second-Team All-Pro in 2019 for his work on special teams.
Hardman has dealt with injuries in recent years, which have made it difficult to find a consistent home. When healthy, he’s a very strong return man with blazing speed. Perhaps the Raiders are hoping to revamp their return game.
Turner is another special teams ace with return experience, and they signed him. It’ll be interesting to see if the Raiders decide to give Hardman a chance at some point in the season. Though he hasn’t been as productive in recent years, his speed is still tempting for teams.
Pete Carroll Wants to Get Healthy During Bye Week
The Raiders have to do some soul-searching during the bye week. The team does have talent, but they have a tendency to have games where it doesn’t even look like they’re attempting to play hard.
It doesn’t help that the roster is really banged up right now. Head coach Pete Carroll is hoping the bye week allows them to get healthy.
“The first thing is it gives us a chance to have two weeks to get three or four guys back out there, get some starters back out there,” Carroll told reporters Monday. “It should help. Brock [Bowers] should be ready to go, Jakobi [Meyers] I think he worked out in pregame, was close, he should be ready to go. Gives us a chance to get Maxx. Maxx was not full speed yesterday. He tried, did everything he could, and we had to get him out of there, but he’ll be better. So, that’s a real boost. I mean, those are three guys that are legitimate leader players on this football team that we need to get back out there. So, hopefully that that will take place. Big self-scouting opportunity for us, big chance to make sure that we know what our opponents are seeing, and to tweak and adjust and be creative with how we do that. That’s what this time is always for.”
Lonnie Johnson Nearing Return
Defensive back Lonnie Johnson was supposed to be a key contributor for the defense this season, but was placed on Injured Reserve before the season started. It sounds like he has a chance to return after the bye week.
“He’s really close,” Carroll said of Johnson. “We had hoped if we really hit it right, that he would be back after the bye, so we’ll see what happens in two weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed. He’s a guy that we really were excited about contributing on the defensive side.”
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