Raiders will be without 2 players in secondary on Sunday

Raiders coach Jon Gruden insisted the team will have a plan in place after ruling out cornerback Damon Arnette and safety Jeff Heath for Sunday’s pivotal home game against the Colts.

He admitted he’s getting sick of coming up with such alternatives.

“We’ll have a contingency plan, but right now we are getting tired of contingency plans, to be honest with you,” he said Friday. “We’ve had a lot of defensive players go down, especially in the secondary. We’ll use the next-man-up as they all say.”

A starter and first-round pick, Arnette suffered head and neck injuries early in each of the last two games. Heath, who has played the majority of defensive snaps at safety over the last four games, has also been ruled out with a concussion.

Fellow safety Johnathan Abram is questionable after missing last week’s game and getting in three limited practice sessions this week with a knee injury.

Erik Harris, the former starter who had been relegated to a backup role over the two previous games, played every snap last week in Abram’s absence and should continue to see the lion’s share of snaps on Sunday.

Cornerbacks Lamarcus Joyner and Isaiah Johnson could also see time at safety, though Johnson is questionable with a groin injury. Special teamer Dallin Leavitt is also a possibility.

“Leavitt is a guy we’ll be prepared to go to quick,” Gruden said. “We’re running out of safeties. Hopefully, Abram can play and stay healthy. Something he hasn’t done. We need him to do that to be the player that we need him to be.”

He’s not the only Raiders’ star saddled with a questionable tag going into Sunday’s game.

Running back Josh Jacobs missed last week’s game with an ankle injury and was limited in practice on Thursday and Friday after missing Wednesday’s session.

Right tackle Trent Brown practiced in full all week and doesn’t carry an injury designation into Sunday’s game, though Gruden stopped short of ruling him in. Brown just got in his first full week of practice and hasn’t played since Oct. 11 as he dealt with COVID-19 and a calf injury.

Gruden said he wanted to see how Abram, Jacobs and especially Brown feel on Saturday before making a final decision, though all three seem to be trending in the right direction.

Brown’s return could help a run game that has been held to just 67 yards per game over the last three contests. A healthy Jacobs wouldn’t hurt, either.

“It always helps to have your feature back,” Gruden said. “They don’t make a lot of guys like Josh Jacobs, so hopefully he’s ready to go. If he is, we’ll make sure we hand him the ball.”

What the Raiders need from everyone else is an understanding of how important each game is becoming at this point.

Sunday marks the beginning of a three-game home stand that includes games against the Colts and Dolphins, two of the opponents ahead of the Raiders in the AFC wild card race.

The game represents not just a chance to draw even with Indianapolis in the standings, but also an opportunity to own a tiebreaker that could very well be needed to determine who makes the postseason.

“I think everybody needs to have a sense of urgency in the NFL, or you get your block knocked off,” Gruden said. “We’ve got to play better in all phases. We’ve got to coach better. We’ve got to be ready. There are a lot of chips on the table.”

■ Notes: Defensive end David Irving is not available this week because of an injury.

“Hopefully, someday we’ll see him out here again,” Gruden said.

The coach added Marcus Mariota has won the weekly backup quarterback battle over Nathan Peterman and will serve as the No. 2 behind Derek Carr on Sunday.

“Mariota has a lot of playing experience and he’s played against the Colts,” Gruden said. “I don’t like to think about anything ever happening to our quarterback, but Marcus is finally healthy. He’s proven that on the practice field the last 10 days and hopefully that’s good things to come for him because I think he is a hell of a quarterback.”

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