Oct. 21 (UPI) — With Las Vegas preparing to put right tackle Trent Brown on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the Raiders sent home all five of their starting offensive linemen Wednesday due to contact tracing.
“I guess they were around Trent,” Raiders head coach Jon Gruden told reporters Wednesday. “I can’t get into things any more than that. But hopefully we’ll get some players back [Thursday], or for Sunday.”
The Raiders (3-2) are coming off their bye week and host Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-2) on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.
“How happy am I? I’m not happy,” said Gruden, who previously said he had the coronavirus during the off-season. “I’m concerned. I’m really more concerned about Trent [and] his health than anything. This is COVID and I am concerned about anybody that has it or is near it.”
The Raiders’ starting offensive line in their last game — at the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 11 — consisted of left tackle Kolton Miller, left guard Denzelle Good, center Rodney Hudson, right guard Gabe Jackson and Brown, who was appearing in his first contest since the season opener because of a calf injury.
Other offensive linemen on the Raiders’ active roster are: Brandon Parker, Patrick Omameh, Sam Young, John Simpson and Andre James.
“We’re listening to the league and they’re advising us on what to do,” Gruden said. “We used other linemen and adjusted practice. We’ll have five [offensive linemen] on Sunday. We’ll be ready to go.”
Raiders safety Johnathan Abram also was sent home as part of the team’s contact tracing. If the players’ COVID-19 tests from Wednesday come back negative, they will be able to re-enter the team’s facility and practice Thursday.
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