Heading into their final two games of 2018, the Denver Broncos will need to win both to avoid their first back-to-back losing season since 1971. The first will come on the road against the Oakland Raiders on Monday Night Football and Christmas Eve in what will be the Raiders final game in the City of Oakland.
The fans in Oakland are going to be the rowdiest they’ve ever been despite their team being a lackadaisical 3-11.
“I guess the fans, and it’s been a good football team for a long time,” Head Coach Vance Joseph said on Thursday. “It’s a tough place to play. They have unique fans, I would say. It’s a true home-field advantage, and when they’re playing well and they’re rocking, it’s a hard place to play. It’s going to be that way on Monday night—we kind of anticipate that a little bit. We’re getting ready for battle.”
With Chris Harris Jr. officially moved to injured reserve on Wednesday, joining wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, the Broncos are looking to the future with a lot of young players getting some playing time to close out the season. That means we should see a different team than one we’ve seen most of the season, especially on defense where young players will getting more playing time than they’ve gotten all year long.
That is, those who are healthy. Despite the loss of several stars, the Broncos are reasonably healthy beyond that with only a few players hoping to get well enough to play on Monday.
Broncos injury report
Player | Pos. | Injury | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Game Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Pos. | Injury | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Game Status |
Matt LaCosse | TE | Ankle | DNP | |||
Brendan Langley | CB | Concussion | DNP | |||
Shaquil Barrett | OLB | Hip | LIMITED | |||
Brandon Marshall | ILB | Knee | LIMITED | |||
Courtland Sutton | WR | Quadricep | LIMITED | |||
Isaac Yiadom | CB | Shoulder | LIMITED |
Raiders injury report
Player | Pos. | Injury | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Game Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Pos. | Injury | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Game Status |
Maurice Hurst | DT | Ankle | DNP | |||
Daryl Worley | CB | Shoulder | DNP | |||
Gareon Conley | CB | Concussion | LIMITED | |||
Rodney Hudson | C | Ankle/Knee | LIMITED | |||
Karl Joseph | S | Neck | LIMITED | |||
Keith Smith | RB | Calf | LIMITED | |||
Lee Smith | TE | Back | LIMITED | |||
Kyle Wilber | LB | Hamstring | LIMITED | |||
Jordy Nelson | WR | Foot | FULL | |||
Kelechi Osemele | G | Toe | FULL |