ALAMEDA – Running back Josh Jacobs played through significant shoulder pain on Sunday. Right tackle Trent Brown wasn’t able to suit up for a second straight week with a pectoral injury.
The Raiders are on a four-game losing streak with a miraculous chain of events required to make the playoffs.
There’s little left to play for, but head coach Jon Gruden was not prepared to rule either star out for the remainder of this season. There’s no plan right now to place those guys on injured reserve.
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If they can go, they’ll go.
“When these guys can play, we’re going to play them,” Gruden said in his Monday press conference. “We’re trying to win and we need them to win, but obviously we are going to do right by the player and do what the training staff says.”
Gruden considered it unlikely that Brown plays Sunday at the L.A. Chargers, and will be questionable. The same goes for Jacobs.
Jacobs missed the previous game against Tennessee but practiced each day last week and was cleared to play in Sunday’s 20-16 loss to Jacksonville on Sunday in the final game at Oakland Coliseum.
Jacobs has been playing with a fractured shoulder suffered in Week 7 and has earned significant respect in the process.
“[Josh] had a hard time getting his shoulder pads off yesterday,” Gruden said. “All I can say is that I’ve coached a long time and I’ve had some really tough backs, really tough guys, and he is up there at the top of the food chain. This guy is one tough customer, he gave us everything he had yesterday, but his status for the coming weeks will be in question.”
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Brown hasn’t played the past two weeks with a pectoral injury the team doesn’t want to get worse. A full tear of the muscle would involve surgery and extended rehab.
Brandon Parker has been starting in Brown’s stead. David Sharpe occupied that role earlier in the year, when Brown was dealing with knee and ankle issues, but a calf injury slowed him down and he lost positioning as the primary swing tackle.