Las Vegas Raiders

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr left Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers with a groin injury. 

Carr limped off the field on a 3rd-and-goal play with 1:28 left in the first quarter as the Raiders trailed the Chargers 7-0. Carr took off toward the end zone, but he ran out of bounds instead.

The Raiders subsequently ruled Carr out for the remainder of the game at the start of the third quarter. 

Marcus Mariota entered the game, his first time on the field in 2020. The Raiders scored a field goal on the drive that injured Carr, and then Mariota found Darren Waller in the end zone to put them on top, 10-7, on his first drive.

Carr had a solid bounce-back season with the Raiders in 2019. The three-time Pro Bowler completed a career-high 70.4 percent of his passes and had a career-best 8.0 adjusted yards per attempt. This season he had a 68.2 completion percentage and 24 touchdowns through 13 games. 

Head coach Jon Gruden is still in the process of rebuilding Oakland's roster, but he appears to have the franchise moving in the right direction with a 7-6 record in 2020, and he handed the Kansas City Chiefs their only loss of the year so far. 

The Raiders took steps to give Carr more weapons in the offseason. They selected Alabama speedster Henry Ruggs III with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft and signed Nelson Agholor as a free agent. 

If Carr is forced to miss significant time, the veteran Mariota will take over as the Raiders' primary quarterback. Mariota signed with the team in the offseason after starting 61 games in the previous five years with the Tennessee Titans. 

Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson will miss Thursday night's game against the Los Angeles Chargers for reasons related to COVID-19, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic.

The rest of the offensive staff will fill in for Olson, per Tafur. 

Olson has worked with the Raiders since 2018, when Jon Gruden took over as head coach. He previously worked under Gruden as the quarterbacks coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008. 

The Raiders will also be without star wide receiver Henry Ruggs III, who was moved to the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday. 

Olson, who was the team's offensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014, is in his 33rd season in the league and his 13th as an offensive coordinator, previously holding that role with the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars in addition to the Raiders and Buccaneers.

Last season, he led the Raiders to become the third team in league history to boast a 4,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard receiver and 1,000-yard rusher while giving up just 17 turnovers, seventh-fewest in the league. The offense finished second in the league in completion percentage (70.2) and was tied for 12th in average passing yards with 256.9. Quarterback Derek Carr acquired a career-best 100.8 passer rating last season, while tight end Darren Waller broke the franchise record for games with 100 receiving yards (five). 

This year's Raiders offense is hovering around the same marks with three games left to play, with an average of 369.3 total yards per game (compared to 363.7 to finish 2019). 

At 7-6, the Raiders would likely need to win their three remaining games against the Chargers, Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos in order to beat out the rest of the teams chasing for an AFC wild-card spot. 

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list and will miss Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. 

Ruggs has had an up-and-down rookie year, totaling 23 catches for 414 yards and two touchdowns in 11 games.

The Alabama product, who was the No. 12 pick the 2020 draft, played in the Raiders' first two games of the season before he was pulled due to knee and hamstring injuries. Offensive coordinator Greg Olson was impressed with his progress through the first two games even as Ruggs played through an injury after a tough tackle in Week 1 (h/t Raiders Wire): 

"Again, we see the speed. I think it's just a matter of time between he and Derek to get a chance to hit those full-speed routes together," he said. "We're happy with where he's at. I know there's probably frustration out there, 'Why's this guy not getting more explosive plays?' But they'll come. It's just time."

In the first two games of his professional career, Ruggs reeled in four of eight targets for 59 yards, and in Week 1, he had two rush attempts for 11 yards. When he was healthy again in Week 5, he grabbed a 72-yard touchdown pass as one of his two receptions, collecting 118 yards.

But a lack of production continued through his next three outings, which saw him tally just 35 yards on two receptions in Week 7 and eight on two catches in Week 8. His struggles culminated in Week 9 when he missed all three targets that came his way.

Through three seasons at Alabama, he played in 40 games, grabbing 98 passes for 1,716 yards and 24 touchdowns. 

With Ruggs sidelined, the Raiders will continue to look to Hunter Renfrow and Nelson Agholor to lead the passing game behind tight end Darren Waller.  

The Las Vegas Raiders allowed 44 points in Sunday's loss to the Indianapolis Colts, and that apparently caught the eye of the front office.

Following the game, the team announced it fired defensive coordinator Paul Guenther. Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli, who was the head coach of the Detroit Lions for three seasons from 2006 to 2008, will be the interim defensive coordinator for the rest of the year.

Marinelli went 10-38 during his time as a head coach and was also the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears (2010-12) and Dallas Cowboys (2014-19) in his past.

This was Guenther's third season as the Raiders defensive coordinator, and he didn't exactly put up head-turning numbers. His unit finished 32nd in points allowed in 2018 and 24th in points allowed in 2019, which is a far cry from when his Cincinnati Bengals defenses finished second in points allowed in 2015 and eighth in 2016.

Las Vegas appeared well on its way to a playoff spot when it started 6-3 and even stunned the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in their first head-to-head matchup.

However, the defense has fallen apart of late, allowing 37.5 points per game in the last four contests. It is no surprise that the Raiders went just 1-3 in that span, and they are now in danger of missing the postseason at 7-6.

Fortunately for Las Vegas, all is not lost.

It is still just one game behind the Miami Dolphins for the final AFC playoff spot and has three more games to make a run. One of those games is a head-to-head showdown with the Dolphins, while the other two are against teams with losing records in the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers.

If the defense shows some improvement under Marinelli, the postseason is not out of the picture.

The Las Vegas Raiders announced defensive end Clelin Ferrell was ruled out for the remainder of Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts with a shoulder injury.

It will be a difficult blow for the Raiders if Ferrell is forced to miss significant time because they made him one of the future faces of the franchise when they selected him with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft.

He was durable in his rookie season and appeared in 15 games on his way to 38 tackles, 4.5 sacks and one fumble recovery. He has followed with 26 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles in his second season.

It was a somewhat surprising move when the Raiders drafted him when they did, but the Clemson product was a dominant force in college.

He was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, the Ted Hendricks Award winner as the nation's best defensive end and a consensus All-American during the 2018 campaign while helping lead the Tigers to the national title with 55 total tackles, 20 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. He also had 18 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks in 2017.

Ferrell figures to be a building block for years to come, so it is important for Las Vegas not to rush him back. It can rely on the combination of Maxx Crosby and Arden Key at defensive end while he's sidelined.

Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs took a shot at fantasy football managers Sunday in an Instagram post.  

NFL Update tweeted screenshots of Jacobs first posting on Instagram that he's not playing Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts followed by a post with a middle finger emoji directed toward "hot" fantasy managers:

Jacobs entered Sunday with a questionable designation due to an ankle injury that forced him to miss last week's game against the New York Jets.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Jacobs was expected to play and then confirmed that Jacobs is active for Sunday's contest.

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported he was told Jacobs is playing Sunday as well, and Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal added that Jacobs was dressed and running around during pregame warm-ups.

Given all of that information, it seems as though Jacobs was merely trolling fantasy managers, many of whom are in the fantasy playoffs and hoping for a big game out of the former Alabama standout.

In this his second NFL season, Jacobs has rushed for 782 yards and nine touchdowns on 206 carries. He also has 27 receptions for 175 yards in 11 games.

If Jacobs is at all limited in Sunday's game due to the ankle injury that kept him out last week, Devontae Booker is the top option to fill in, as he got the start against the Jets.

Las Vegas Raiders safety Johnathan Abram is reportedly appealing fines for two hits in the Raiders' Week 12 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, Abram is appealing $80,000 in fines as a result of hits on running back Ito Smith and wide receiver Russell Gage.

While Abram wasn't flagged on either play, the NFL determined he lowered his head to initiate contact.

Abram is considered a repeat offender because of multiple hits that drew fines previously. Per Spotrac, he was fined over $28,000 for a hit on Denver Broncos wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton last season and was fined again this season in November for a hit against the Broncos.

The 24-year-old Abram is in the midst of his second NFL season after Las Vegas selected him with the No. 27 overall pick in last year's draft. He is playing on a four-year, $11.5 million rookie contract.

Abram, who missed the Raiders' Week 13 win against the New York Jets with a knee injury, has performed well this season with 63 tackles, five passes defended and two interceptions in 10 games.

He was limited to one game as a rookie because of a torn rotator cuff and labrum, but Abram hasn't missed a step in becoming one of Las Vegas' key contributors on defense.