Laube and Jeanty May Have to Carry Sunday Night

Mike Washington Jr. missed Thursday's practice with a foot and back injury and is listed as questionable for Sunday night against the Rams. I already noted the backfield math getting complicated when this first came up. Now it's Friday, and the math hasn't gotten any simpler.

If Washington can't go, the carries fall to Ashton Jeanty and Dylan Laube. Jeanty is active, but he's been managed carefully since returning from the August ankle injury — 329 rushing yards and a touchdown through seven games, which is a workload that suggests the coaching staff hasn't fully cut him loose yet. Laube has chipped in two touchdowns and shown he can be useful in limited spots, but he hasn't been asked to carry a full game plan. Sunday night could change that.

The timing is awkward. Las Vegas is on a three-game losing streak, one game out of the last wild card spot, and playing a Rams team that will have its own injury questions at receiver with Puka Nacua questionable. This is a winnable game. But the Raiders have been in winnable games before — Kansas City by three, Buffalo by three — and found ways to come up short. A backfield operating without its most reliable runner makes the margin for error even thinner.

Cousins, Bowers, and Tucker will have to do more if Washington sits. That's not a bad fallback — Cousins has been productive, and Bowers and Tucker have been consistent targets all season. But the Raiders' ability to stay balanced and keep defenses honest on the ground has been part of what made the early wins work. Losing that balance for a game they need is a real problem, not a theoretical one.