
Raiders tight end Lee Smith missed Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions. It was his first absence of the season, and might be the only one.
He had surgery to repair an injured wrist on Tuesday, but head coach Jack Del Rio thinks his recovery should be quick.
He said Monday in a press conference that Smith “should be ready to roll” for the team’s next game, a road contest against the Tennessee Titans.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
[BAIR: Top 5 takeaways from Raiders' Week 11 loss to Lions]
That would be a boon for the Raiders run game, which uses Smith’s blocking expertise often on offense. He’s been solid working for pass as well. He has allowed just three quarterback pressures all season.
Del Rio didn’t say much about center Rodney Hudson’s sprained right ankle, which he re-aggravated in Sunday’s 18-13 loss to the Lions at Ford Field.
Del Rio called Hudson’s injury a tweak, without detailing the injury’s severity.
NFL
“We’ll just see whether or not that set him back to where he was or whether that was just a minor tweak,” Del Rio said. “We’ll just see how the week goes.”
Del Rio didn’t update Taiwan Jones’ status a day after he suffered a knee injury. He hopes to get linebacker Neiron Ball back to work after a month off with a knee injury.
Del Rio analyzes Cooper drops: Raiders rookie receiver Amari Cooper had two drops on Sunday – he has 10 on the year – and had just one catch for four yards against Detroit. That’s a bad stat line, the worst of his young NFL career.
Del Rio took responsibility for a lack of targets, saying coaches need to get him more involved.
[BAIR: Raiders' Cooper non-factor in poor offensive showing]
“I think there were some opportunities with one-on-one coverage that, quite frankly, we didn’t take advantage of,” Del Rio said. “We have to do a better job of making sure that we get our top playmakers involved. Coming out of that game, I feel like we didn’t do a good enough job there as a staff of getting him involved.”
Heeney’s mixed bag: Rookie linebacker Ben Heeney played the most significant defensive stretch of his career on Sunday, registering four tackles as a coverage linebacker on passing downs. The Raiders are searching for answers at that spot, at least until Ball recovers from his knee sprain.
“He plays hard. He makes a lot of tackles. He’s a productive guy,” Del Rio said. “A couple times where he overran the ball, over pursued the ball and allowed some cutbacks, it was effort-filled performance. That’s what we know about Ben; he’s going to fly around. He’s going to be on plays. He made a heck of a move to get that sack. For his first extended action, I thought he did pretty well.”
Amerson praised: Cornerback David Amerson was the Raiders’ No. 3 cornerback on Sunday under DJ Hayden, who struggled against the Lions. Del Rio praised Amerson’s play, which was especially strong against elite Lions receiver Calvin Johnson. He would not commit to giving Amerson snaps over Hayden in the future.
[BAIR: Snap count: Raiders CB Hayden remains starter over Amerson]
“Our plan is to use the best people,” Del Rio said. “We’ll continue to look at whatever we can to improve our football team.”