Broncos Raiders injury report: Irving out; Ball, Cornick & Green questionable

It's Friday and that means it's time for the Broncos final practice of the week. We are that much closer to putting the New England stinker-game behind us.

FUN FACT: Aqib Talib mentioned to the press this week that this Sunday's game will be his first in Oakland.

Talib: "I don't know what to expect. I've heard stories; I've heard it's a pretty rowdy crowd there. I'm just looking forward to it."

Ahhh finally some laughs are back during stretch. Players making fun of Luke during stretch. All in good fun pic.twitter.com/zy0xqLaoFr

— Darren McKee (@dmac1043) November 7, 2014

Broncos off the Injury Report this week

Louis Vasquez and Kayvon Webster were on the report last week due to illness and a non-injury family matter - so not surprisingly they are both off the injury report this week. Also off the report: Omar Bolden (concussion), Chris Harris Jr, (knee), and Ronnie Hillman (shoulder). I've said it before and I'll say it again - always great to see players get off the injury report.

Broncos new to the injury report this week

Nate Irving is out for Sunday. Montee Ball, Paul Cornick and Virgil Green are questionable. Cornick did not practice yesterday or today.

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) November 7, 2014

There are three new players on the injury report this week. Wes Welker (back) who practiced fully this week was the most minor injury of the three. Nate Irving did not practice all week and will most likely miss a significant amount of time with his knee injury. It sure looked like it could be a season ending injury during the game last Sunday so this is still good news.

John Fox earlier this week talking about replacing Irving:

We've got a variety of guys, [LB] Steven Johnson being one of them, [LB] Lamin Barrow [and] even [LB] Brandon Marshall. We're not going to get into who is starting and who has what roles just due to the competitive nature of this game but we feel good about the guys and 'next man up."

The injury that has everyone talking about a Broncos O-Line shift is Paul Cornick's shoulder injury that took him out of practice entirely on Thursday. Maybe the O-line would have had a shakeup even without Cornick's injury, but this seems to have opened the door to a minor to major change for a line that has struggled all season with consistency.

I expect to see a big shakeup on the #Broncos O-Line this week with Louis Vasquez moving to RT, Manny Ramirez to RG & Will Montgomery to C

— Brandon Krisztal (@BKDenverSports) November 6, 2014

Kyle broke down that report in-depth here.

Repeat Broncos on the Injury Report

There are six repeat Broncos players on the injury report this week. Brandon McManus (right groin) and Juwan Thompspn (knee) practiced fully this week just as they did last week. Steven Johnson, who is expected to be "next man up" for Nate Irving is still dealing with an ankle injury. This injury kept him limited in practice last week but he practiced fully this week.

Virgil Green (calf) is still limited which is noteworthy because when Green isn't on the field Julius Thomas spends more time blocking and less time catching touchdowns. Quinton Carter did not practice due to a hamstring injury last week. This week Carter was limited in practice.

The biggest change injury wise for a Bronco player is Montee Ball returning to practice this week. He was limited in practice after not participating last week and will surely be eased back into things if he plays this Sunday. Ball seems very self aware of the fact that Ronnie Hillman and Juwan Thompson had more success than he did before his injury, but of course Ball is more than ready to get back to work and win his starting job back.

Do not misinterpret what I said. Can't wait to compete for what is mine. #broncos

— Montee Ball (@ballrb28) November 6, 2014

What about the Raiders?

As if the Raiders don't have enough problems, they also have some serious injury concerns. The Raiders will be without tight end David Auberry and left guard Gabe Jackson on Sunday. Jackson will most likely be replaced by their left tackle Khalif Barnes who played left tackle for a few games with the Raiders last season.

What has to be the most concerning for the Raiders is that three of their top four corner backs are on their injury report this week. That's never a good sign for a team about to face Peyton Manning.

Friday Injury Report

Denver Broncos

Oakland Raiders

BOLD-Indicates change in status

STATUS DEFINITIONS:                   
Out - player definitely will not play 
Doubtful - at least 75% chance player will not play 
Questionable - 50-50 chance player will not play

Probable - virtual certainty player will be available for normal duty