Raiders Preseason Update: Minnesota Vikings Offense
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The Las Vegas Raiders are a few days away from their week one preseason matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, a team that has been dealing with a few roster problems of their own.
We will dig deep into Vikings training camp and provide an update on what the Raiders could expect this Sunday.
Quarterback Concerns
Vikings starting quarterback Kirk Cousins was sent home Thursday morning after not feeling well in practice. He did not participate in any walkthroughs and is questionable to travel with the team on Saturday.
"I have not gotten much of an update but I do know he was not feeling well earlier," said Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell. "We have a process in place where we send him home and we'll go through our processes internally. I'll get an update for you guys as the week pans out on his availability for the Raiders game."
While the illness is still unclear, it allowed the backup quarterbacks to get a few extra, well needed reps.
Quarterbacks Kellen Mond and Sean Mannion took all of the reps during Thursday's practice, and will potentially do the same until Sunday’s game.
Mond and Mannion have struggled tremendously during training camp, which should work well for the Raiders secondary.
Tight End Trouble
Tight end Irv Smith Jr. did not practice early in the week due to injuries and will not be expected to suit against the Raiders.
The depth behind Smith Jr. did not look good during practice.
At times, fellow tight end Johnny Mundt was being yelled at by Cousins for running the wrong routes.
O-Line Struggles
The Raiders pass rush can benefit once again this week as they take on an offensive line that continues to struggle in pass protection.
O'Connell has downplayed Garrett Bradbury's struggles in pass protection, saying he's not worried.
The center did receive praise about his run block ability, but without Dalvin Cook in the backfield, the Raiders shouldn’t have a problem stopping the run.
"Garrett [Bradbury] has been really good in the run game with all the different phases of how we run the football in the zone game and some of the gap stuff we do where we can hit some of those combinations differently," O’Connell said. "He’s shown a real understanding of the scheme. We do a lot of different things in the run game that sometimes looks like a lot, but as long as the center can get us dialed in and targeted the right way, everybody else, all other 10 guys can be on the same page, and he’s done a great job with that.”
The Raiders should capitalize on the Vikings depth issues and allow some of the newer players an opportunity to make a statement of making last minute impressions before roster cuts begin.
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