Carr’s injury puts more on shoulders of Raiders’ defense
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — The broken leg suffered by Oakland quarterback Derek Carr forced the Raiders to shake up their offense and thrust backup Matt McGloin into the spotlight as the starter.
Veteran safety Nate Allen said it’s also up to the team’s defense to help pick up the slack — a theme echoed by several of his teammates all week.
“It’s still business as usual,” Allen said Friday. “Even when Derek was in, our belief has been that if the other team doesn’t score, they can’t win. That’s always been our mindset.”
With first-round draft pick Karl Joseph still nursing a nagging toe injury that has hindered him for nearly a month, Allen is likely to make his fourth consecutive start when the Raiders end the regular season Sunday in Denver.
The 14th overall pick in the draft, Joseph returned to practice after sitting out the previous three weeks, but has been limited each of the past two days and is listed as doubtful on the injury report.
Allen, a starter in 2015 before injuries cut his season short, has played well while Joseph has been out. He has 24 tackles in the past three games and had his second interception of the season last week against Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck that helped set up Oakland’s first score.
This week the Raiders play a Broncos team that has already announced its intention to rotate quarterbacks Paxton Lynch and Trevor Siemian in the regular-season finale….