Oakland Raiders: Things Worth Keeping An Eye On Against Dallas

Health

Every single year, teams suffer devastating injuries in these meaningless preseason games – injuries that can have a very detrimental impact on a team’s fortunes for the year. Just ask the Patriots about Julian Edelman. The Chiefs about Spencer Ware. The Giants about Odell Beckham Jr.

Which makes playing your stars during the preseason a very delicate balancing act. You want to play them enough so that their timing and rhythms are in sync when the season starts. But you don’t want to put them in a position to have a catastrophic injury in a meaningless exhibition game.

With this being the third game of the exhibition slate, you would figure that the regulars are going to get a little more time on the field than they have in the first two contests. Timing and chemistry is important and nothing can ever simulate live game action.

But that possible extended playing time doesn’t come without significant risk. As we saw last season, when Carr went down with a broken leg, Oakland’s fortunes turned on a dime. They went from a possible dark horse candidate to make a deep playoff run, to a one-and-done team, bounced on Wild Card weekend by Houston.

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Injuries are a part of football, there is no question. Every season, we see players suffer broken legs, torn ligaments, concussions – the list goes on. You can’t protect everybody from everything.

But you can help mitigate their exposure to potential injuries – especially in a meaningless exhibition game.
It’s a very fine line to walk, which will make it worth noting how much Del Rio plays his stars – on both sides of the ball against Dallas.