The Oakland Raiders suffered a major blow to the defense in the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars last week with strong safety Tyvon Branch going down with a broken fibula.
As a result of the injury that will sideline Branch for a considerable amount of time, head coach Dennis Allen has decided to go with Brandian Ross as his replacement according to Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com:
Allen went with a straight swap. Brandian Ross is expected to start Monday’s game against the Denver Broncos. It’ll be the second of his NFL career, but Ross believes he’ll be ready for additional responsibility.
As if taking over for the savvy veteran wasn’t enough of a challenge for Ross, the Virginia native will be tested right out of the gate in his new role as a starter. Ross will be burdened with the task of going up against arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the league facing Peyton Manning in Week 3 and apparently the 23-year-old is up to the task via Bair:
“I’m blessed to have the opportunity, and I believe I’m ready for it,” Ross said. “It’s the perfect time to make an impact on this team. It’s a big game and we’re going to do what we have to do to give ourselves a chance to win.”
If Ross can make an impact immediately and help the Raiders pull off the upset over the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football, Branch’s status as a starter will be put in jeopardy moving forward.
With the Raiders’ coaching staff is attempting to rebuild once again, Ross has an opportunity to make impression with a solid performance against the Broncos on Monday night. The Raiders are currently heavy underdogs, but anything can happen in the NFL as this squad from Oakland tries to put the rest of the league on notice.
