Hemingway Still Out, Walker Uncertain. The Raiders' Defensive Middle Is Running on Fumes.

Tonka Hemingway remains in the NFL's concussion protocol, and as of the latest injury report, Quay Walker has been downgraded to questionable. That's the starting defensive tackle and the starting linebacker both in doubt, which is a rough combination for a team that has already surrendered 45 points in a single game this season and let Buffalo escape with a three-point win the week after.

The linebacker depth behind Walker is Nakobe Dean and Segun Olubi. That's not nothing, but it's not what you want leaning on in a stretch where the Raiders need to start winning close games. The defensive tackle situation is similarly thin — JJ Pegues and the group behind him would have to absorb more without Hemingway, and there's no indication from the injury report that his return is imminent.

The Raiders are 3-4, four losses in a row, and 1.5 games out of the last wild card with ten games left. The offense has shown it can move the ball — Kirk Cousins is at 1,927 passing yards and 17 touchdowns through eight games — but the defense has to hold leads when it gets them. That hasn't happened consistently. Losing two of the players responsible for stopping the run, at the same time, heading into a stretch that will define the season, is not a small thing.