Las Vegas Raiders notebook: What Derek Carr sees in rookie wide receiver Henry Ruggs III
Derek Carr has played with rookie wide receiver Henry Ruggs III in just two games this season.
Still, he knows what the former Alabama standout can bring to the Raiders.
“Henry has shown some great signs of some great attributes,” Carr said Wednesday. “Some things that you love to see of his work ethic, route-running ability. I wish we would have got to see more of it the past few games but because he was hurt, we didn’t see it, but his toughness, man. The kid is tough.”
It is unknown if Ruggs will play for Las Vegas against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.
Ruggs, taken with the 12th overall pick of the 2020 NFL draft, missed the past two games because of knee and hamstring injuries.
When Ruggs is on the field, the Raiders know what he can bring, as evident against the Carolina Panthers in the season opener, when he caught a 45-yard pass from Carr in a 34-30 victory.
It seemed Ruggs is eager to get back on the field. He practiced Wednesday, albeit limited.
After Sunday’s 30-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Ruggs posted an hourglass emoji.
“He works his tail off,” Carr said. “Not playing really crushes him, whereas I’ve been around some guys where not playing isn’t the worst thing in the world to them. That shows you his football character and how much it means to him. I can’t say enough good things about Henry. I love him and I know he’s excited and hoping he’ll get to play.”
19 players listed on injury report
Returning to practice on Wednesday was tackle Trent Brown.
He hasn’t practiced with the Raiders since Week 1 and has been sidelined due to a calf injury, though coach Jon Gruden said he’s been doing some side work during those weeks.
“He’s been working on the side simulating the offensive tackle position with A.J. Neibel and the training staff,” Gruden said. “He wouldn’t be out there practicing and be on the list to possibly play if he wasn’t in shape and ready to go. He has missed time, and you have to practice this game no matter what anybody says to be good at it.”
Missing practice were defensive tackle Maliek Collins (shoulder/illness) and wide receiver Bryan Edwards (foot/ankle). Tight end Jason Witten and center Rodney Hudson also missed, but for non-injury-related reasons.
In Thursday’s injury report, the Raiders have some encouraging news on Ruggs III (knee/hamstring) who practiced in full after he was limited on Wednesday.
Raiders/Carr woes at Arrowhead Stadium
Among the eye-popping statistics: Carr’s struggles in Kansas City.
In six games at Arrowhead Stadium, Carr is winless and has a 56.8% completion rate (133 of 234) for four touchdowns and seven interceptions. He’s been sacked 17 times and fumbled six times, losing two.
Could the Raiders change their misfortunes at Arrowhead this weekend?
“Derek’s going to hear it until we do it,” Gruden said. “But, he’s the biggest reason I think we have a chance to do it. We have to play better around him. We can’t turn the ball over. If you look at the turnover ratio in the four games since I’ve been back coaching against Kansas City, it is almost embarrassing.
“We have to take care of the ball. We have to take the ball away. We have to address the turnover margin against the Chiefs. We have to fix it ourselves and we have to do it as a team.”
The Raiders’ last win in Kansas City was in 2012, a 26-16 victory led by two Carson Palmer touchdown passes and four Sebastian Janikowski field goals.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
