Raiders could be getting help soon, including at quarterback

The Raiders’ tally crippled and short-yardage issues could beryllium getting 2 helping hands soon, with 1 arriving arsenic aboriginal arsenic Sunday against the Denver Broncos.

Backup backmost Marcus Mariota doesn’t code the club’s woeful violative line. But his beingness arsenic a tally threat, particularly connected 3rd downs, tin springiness the Raiders a assistance successful immoderate problematic situations.

Mariota has been connected the injured reserve database since re-injuring his calf successful the play opener. But Raiders manager Jon Gruden said connected Monday that the dual-threat backmost could instrumentality to signifier this week and could suit up against the Broncos.

“I can’t marque an authoritative announcement whether we’ll activate him oregon not. We’ll astir apt spot however it goes connected the signifier tract Wednesday and Thursday,” Gruden said. “He’s astatine each the meetings. He says helium feels precise good. So let’s spot wherever it is Wednesday and Thursday erstwhile helium cuts it loose.”

The program coming into the play was to carve retired a relation for Mariota that tapped into his menace arsenic a runner and passer. That was evident successful the play opener when, upon being inserted into the crippled connected a third-and-one situation, helium broke disconnected a 31-yard run.

Mariota, though, was injured connected the play and has been inactive ever since.

The Raiders, meanwhile, person fallen to 13th successful the 32-team NFL connected third-down conversions, turning conscionable 41.43 percent of their 70 attempts into archetypal downs. They are 3 of 9 connected fourth-down attempts.

Both areas were sore spots successful the Raiders’ nonaccomplishment to the Bears connected Sunday. They converted conscionable 5 of 14 3rd downs and conscionable 1 of 3 4th downs.

A steadfast Mariota could person surely helped successful those situations. Moving forward, the Raiders are anxious to find retired if helium tin help.

“He might,” Gruden said. “He might. I don’t know. But it’s a thought.”

Meanwhile, the Raiders are cautiously optimistic that near defender Richie Incognito, who has not practiced since mid-August aft injuring his quad during grooming camp, could instrumentality successful 3 weeks aft the bye week. If so, Incognito could suit up connected Nov. 7th against the New York Giants.

“He’s getting better, that’s the bully news,” Gruden said.

The nonaccomplishment of Incognito has been peculiarly achy for the Raiders, who were counting connected his precocious level of play and enactment to assistance their rebuilt violative enactment find its way. After trading distant seasoned halfway Rodney Hudson and defender Gabe Jackson during the offseason, the Raiders envisioned Incognito and seasoned defender Denzelle Good flanking caller halfway Andre James, with Good playing alongside rookie close tackle Alex Leatherwood.

“He’s not lone a truly bully player, he’s a large leader, a large communicator,” Gruden said. “He sees stunts and twists.”

That program went awry erstwhile Incognito went down and Good soon followed him with a season-ending genu wounded successful the archetypal fractional of the play opener. The Raiders person been successful flux ever since, including making a large determination past week by sliding Leatherwood to close defender and inserting seasoned Brandon Parker astatine close tackle.

While the caller enactment had immoderate affirmative moments connected Sunday, the Raiders inactive struggled to tally the shot and Derek Carr continually operated nether duress. And arsenic the woeful third- and fourth-down conversion complaint showed, they could not get the indispensable propulsion up beforehand successful short-yardage situations.

For now, Gruden said Leatherwood and Parker volition enactment put.

“It’s going to beryllium achy astatine times,” Gruden said. “We’ve got to play better. We volition play better.”

And soon, immoderate assistance mightiness beryllium connected the way.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore astatine vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore connected Twitter.