Washington Jr. Missed Thursday. Now the Backfield Math Gets Complicated.

Mike Washington Jr. did not practice Thursday due to a foot and back injury, and his status for Sunday night is uncertain. That's a problem the Raiders don't have a clean answer for right now.

Washington Jr. has been the backfield's primary carrier all season — 287 rushing yards and a touchdown across eight games — a role he earned while Ashton Jeanty worked back from the August ankle injury. Jeanty is active and has been accumulating carries, but his usage has stayed conservative enough that this offense has essentially been running a split that leans on Washington Jr. to absorb volume. If he can't go Sunday, that math shifts onto a backfield that lists Dylan Laube and Connor Heyward as the next options. Laube has two touchdowns on the year but hasn't been asked to carry a game. Heyward is a utility piece, not a featured back.

The timing is about as bad as it gets. The Raiders have lost three straight, are a game out of the last wild card spot, and have not yet shown they can win close games under pressure — the same thing that buried them in 2025. Jeanty may end up seeing a heavier workload by necessity, which is its own gamble given how carefully this staff has managed him since training camp. The offense moved the ball well enough against Buffalo to score 30. Losing the guy who's been the ground-game anchor complicates the formula heading into a night game with playoff implications already sharpening.