Cory Littleton striving to live up to massive expectations

Raiders’ linebacker Cory Littleton wants to be great so bad he can taste it.

His sense of smell, however, has completely vanished, a side effect of the COVID-19 diagnosis that kept him out of two games and had him away from his teammates for two weeks last month.

“I had mild symptoms,” he said. “Me and my family, thankfully. We stayed together and made it through pretty unscathed. I probably got it the worst. I still can’t smell anything, which kinda sucks, but other than that, I’m pretty good.”

Littleton, who signed a three-year, $35 million free-agent deal with the Raiders this offseason, has struggled at times to adjust to a new role in new surroundings after thriving as a coverage linebacker for the Rams the last few years.

He admits there has been pressure to live up to the contract, but he says that is outweighed by the internal expectations he puts on himself.

“Every year, I’ve always wanted to be a top five linebacker and that was the way I was going to play to make sure I am,” he said. “ I still come to the game with the same mindset. The results haven’t been the same. Hopefully, I can get that to change.”

Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said he believes Littleton was feeling pressure to do far too much early in the season. Littleton was starting to settle in a bit when he tested positive for COVID-19, stunting that momentum.

Guenther hopes the opportunity to watch from afar for two weeks, combined with the emergence of Nick Morrow as a complementary piece, will help Littleton settle in with the Raiders.

“Nick Morrow has been playing really at a high level for us each and every week, so we’ve been able to rotate him in some more along with (Nick) Kwiatkoski,” Guenther said. “The rotation of those three guys will be good where he doesn’t have to play potentially every snap. We could rotate those three guys in different packages. I think that’s helped him as well.”

Roster moves

The Raiders officially placed defensive tackle Maliek Collins on injured reserve Friday, meaning he will miss at least the next three games.

Collins has not practiced this week as he deals with hamstring and ankle injuries. Gruden said Monday the move to IR was expected at some point this week.

Also, wide receiver Robert Davis was sent back to the practice squad from the practice squad injured list.

Beasley in the plans?

Gruden indicated defensive end Vic Beasely could be activated from the practice squad and make his Raiders debut on Sunday.

With Collins on injured reserve and defensive tackle Maurice Hurst questionable with ankle and calf injuries, the Raiders may be looking for bodies along the defensive line of scrimmage.

“We’re going to go take a good look at our options, but Beasley has had a good week,” Gruden said Friday. “He’s seemed to pick up our system fast and we don’t know Maurice Hurst’s status either. So we’ll have to make a decision on who’s up on gameday and give these guys another day to try to get well.”

Beasley led the NFL in sacks with 15.5 for the Falcons in 2016, but hasn’t reached double-figures since then. He did have eight last season with the Falcons, leading to a $9.5 million deal with Tennessee this year.

He didn’t record a sack in five games with the Titans and was released. Beasley signed with the Raiders last month.

The Raiders have just 12 sacks this season, ahead of only Jacksonville.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.