Raiders report: WR Bryan Edwards taken off COVID-19 list

Raiders report

Schedule

All practices at Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center, unless noted:

Friday — Practice, 11 a.m.

Saturday — Off

Sunday — at Indianapolis Colts, Lucas Oil Stadium, 10 a.m.

Monday — Rich Bisaccia news conference, 1 p.m.

Quote of the day

Rookie safety Tre’von Moehrig is focused on his job as the center fielder of the Raiders defense when he’s on the field. That vantage point also provides him a pretty good look at what is going on in front of him.

He has liked what he’s seen this year from the defensive line.

“It all starts up front,” the second-round pick out of TCU said. “Me and Maxx (Crosby) were talking about it yesterday. I’m 15 yards deep so I can see everything happen in front of me. I get to see all the guys in the front just going off and going crazy. I see Maxx flying around, Yannick (Ngakoue) doing his thing. All them boys up front. It’s fun to be back there.”

Moehrig has been pretty good himself. He has played all but six defensive snaps this season and was named Wednesday to Gil Brandt’s all-rookie team on NFL.com.

Injury report

Linebacker Divine Deablo (shoulder/elbow) and defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins (back) were the only players limited during Thursday’s walk-through session. Defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson was a full participant after taking a veteran rest day on Wednesday.

The Colts weren’t as fortunate.

Tight end Jack Doyle (knee/ankle), offensive tackle Eric Fisher (knee/shoulder/toe) and safety Andrew Sendejo (concussion) all missed practice on Thursday.

Edwards off COVID list

The Raiders got wide receiver Bryan Edwards back from the reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday, but added two more players to the list.

Defensive end Carl Nassib and offensive lineman Jordan Simmons bring the current number of active roster players on the list to 12. Two practice squad players are also on the reserve list.

The Raiders also signed offensive linemen Nico Falah and Brett Heggie to the practice squad.

Building on success

The offensive line is coming off its most complete effort of the season, particularly in the second half against the Broncos.

Right tackle Brandon Parker was one of the highest-graded tackles in the league for the week by Pro Football Focus. Center Andre James continued his rapid improvement. After a miserable start, the site has James graded as the sixth-best center in the league since Week 7.

The unit as a whole took over the game against the Broncos, leading running back Josh Jacobs to his most productive game of the season by far.

Offensive coordinator Greg Olson has been encouraged by the success and wants to see it continue.

“This is the time of year when you want to be peaking,” he said. “We talked about improvement on a week-to-week basis. I know we’ve been up and down and had our struggles, but we felt good at the end of that game. Now it’s about taking the next step forward against another really good opponent.”

Flying blind

The league’s new COVID protocols should allow teams like the Raiders to clear players off the reserve list sooner and field rosters closer to full strength. But there could be even more uncertainty during the week about who will and won’t be available.

While the Raiders hope to get just about everyone on the reserve list back in time for the game, it means going through a week of preparation uncertain of who may be able to play on Sunday.

The Colts are dealing with a similar situation with quarterback Carson Wentz, leaving the Raiders to prepare for two different styles in case Sam Ehlinger gets the start.

“We’ve watched them both,” Bradley said. “A guy like Carson is a bigger type quarterback, 240 pounds and can run. If he’s asked to block, you’ll see him block out there in some of the wildcat-type things we’ve watched. He’s a guy who is really a strong competitor. With Sam, he’s run the ball at times on the perimeter. Some of the read option comes a little more alive with him.”

Adam Hill Las Vegas Review-Journal