Geno

Smith

This is a tough break for Smith, who entered the game with a foot injury. The Raiders’ quarterback spent time with the Raiders training staff, getting abrasions on his right, throwing hand’s ring and pinky fingers addressed before retaking the field for a productive drive in the second half. Unfortunately, Smith injured his right, throwing shoulder after guiding the offense into the Broncos’ red zone on the same drive. He was quickly taken to the locker room, replaced by backup QB Kenny Pickett. Smith completed 13-of-21 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown and rushed once for four yards in the Raiders’ Week 14 loss to the Broncos.

Smith spent time with the Raiders’ training staff, getting abrasions on his right, throwing hand’s ring and pinky fingers dealt with in the second half. He successfully returned to the game and marched the offense down the field, into the Broncos’ red zone. He was then hit by Broncos DL Zach Allen while throwing a short completion to TE Brock Bowers, landing hard on his right, throwing shoulder. Smith was visibly in pain and was immediately taken to the locker room. He was replaced by backup QB Kenny Pickett, who finished the drive with a turnover on downs. Before exiting, Smith completed 13-of-21 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown and rushed once for four yards.

Smith returns with the ring and pinky fingers on his right, throwing hand taped up. He is throwing the ball aggressively downfield, though his accuracy has been intermittently off the mark. Overall, Smith’s aggressiveness is promising. He was in a decent amount of pain when the fingers were being addressed on the sideline.

Broncos DL Zach Allen hit Smith early in the third quarter, resulting in visible abrasions on the ring and pinky fingers on Smith’s right, throwing hand. The broadcast announced Smith as questionable to return, as team trainers attempted to stop the bleeding on the sideline. Stay tuned.

Smith practiced fully on Thursday and Friday, which is a good sign. The error-prone quarterback cannot be started in single-quarterback leagues and is barely on the QB2 radar, given the tough matchup. Tight ends have had success against the Broncos this season, so hopefully, Smith locks onto TE Brock Bowers.

Smith’s practice participation puts him on track to be sacked repeatedly by the Broncos’ pass rush this weekend. Fortunately, the Broncos tend to allow opposing tight ends to produce in the receiving game, so Smith has low-end QB2 hope despite the tough matchup. Hopefully, Smith practices fully again tomorrow.

Smith popped up on the injury report with a foot issue ahead of the Raiders’ Week 14 game against the Broncos. This late in the season, it is likely he is managing some aches and pains and the Raiders are varying his workload. Smith is still on track to play on Sunday, though he is barely a fantasy QB2 this week.

Smith also racked up 40-sack yards on five sacks and rushed twice for minus-six yards. Aside from that, Smith’s day consisted of dump-offs to RB Ashton Jeanty and relying on TE Brock Bowers’ otherworldly talents to score two touchdowns. The duo had one called back by a questionably timed timeout call from Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, but Smith dutifully went back to Bowers on the next play, resulting in an incompletion and a defensive pass interference call, bringing the Raiders a fresh set of downs. Smith flung another pass in Bowers’ direction after that, and the soon-to-be-perennial first-team All-Pro pass catcher somehow produced a once-handed catch while diving backward against tight coverage. Smith is tough to trust, even as a QB2, against the Broncos next week.

Smith’s box score doesn’t look so bad until you see that he took 10 sacks for a total loss of 77 yards. He also lost the ball twice, one of which was scooped up by the Browns. Smith, now 35 years old and largely immobile at this point in his career, was an easy target for the Browns’ tenacious pass-rush. It got so bad at certain points that Geno simply gave himself up before taking a brutal hit multiple times. His 10 sacks are the most for a quarterback in a single game since 2018. Smith made a few nice throws but also regularly sailed passes, primarily deep shots to Tre Tucker. There isn’t much the Raiders can change heading into Week 13. Smith has very little left in the tank and Pete Carroll has no idea how to scheme around his struggling quarterback. Geno will sit at the back of the QB2 ranks for Week 13 against the Chargers.

The fact that the headline for Smith in this one is a tongue-in-cheek comment on the team’s inability to run the football tells the tale of how the game played out for the Raiders at home. The defense kept the team in the game in the first quarter but the wheels came off as they allowed four consecutive touchdown drives to fall into a 31-9 hole they would not come near clawing out of. Smith’s lone touchdown toss came in the fourth quarter and a screen to Tre Tucker, capping off the only drive of the night over 50 yards. Smith remains under team control through the 2027 season after signing a two-year extension this offseason, something that could come under siege after a rocky start to his 2025 campaign.