The Oakland Raiders have their biggest game of the season on the horizon as they travel to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 12. With the Raiders sitting at 6-5 and the Chiefs at 7-4, Oakland needs to find away to come away with a win if they want to keep their hopes of winning the division alive.
The Chiefs are coming off a bye so they have had an extra week to rest up and get healthy, while the Raiders had perhaps their worst performance of the season in Week 12 against the New York Jets.
If Oakland wants to have any chance, they will need to go into the game with all of their starters healthy. The main one that has been out is safety Lamarcus Joyner as he suffered a hamstring injury in Week 10 and has missed the last two games.
Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has been optimistic about Joyner’s chances of returning all week though and it appears that is the case. He is off the injury report and will be good to go for the game against the Chiefs, although starting right tackle Trent Brown is questionable with a knee injury, per Scott Bair of NBC Sports:
Trent Brown is questionable for the Chiefs with a knee injury. Was in the walk through, but not in the practice.
Lamarcus Joyner will play. He’s off the injury report.
— Scott Bair (@BairNBCS) November 29, 2019
Brown being able to participate in Thursday’s walkthrough is a good sign, although it likely won’t be determined if he is able to play until Sunday morning.
He is the Raiders’ best offensive lineman, so having him for the big matchup against the Chiefs is important and he understands that. Brown missed a game earlier in the season and David Sharpe started in his place, which would likely be the case again if he is not ready to go this week.
Getting Joyner back is key for the Raiders defense as they get ready to take on Patrick Mahomes and the high-powered Chiefs offense. Mahomes threw four touchdowns in one quarter in the last meeting between these two teams, so Oakland will need to be better this week if they want to come out of Arrowhead Stadium with an upset.
