Will the Raiders have a key defensive star back for the Bengals?

On By Littum

The Las Vegas Raiders have suffered numerous injuries to critical parts of their defense this season. They lost starting defensive end Malcolm Koonce days before the first game of the season. They lost starting safety Marcus Epps to a non-contact injury weeks later.

Several other players on defense have missed time this season with injuries.

On Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Raiders suffered a near fatal blow when Spillane went down with an injury. The veteran linebacker missed time with a knee injury last week against the Chiefs, but re-entered the game soon after.

At first the injury looked serious as Spillane had to be helped off the field. Spillane and the Raiders are taking no chances as he is far too valuable to the Raiders to lose, especially with the other injuries the defense has suffered this season.

The veteran linebacker did not practice this week leading up to Sunday’s matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals and is officially listed as questionable.

Outside of defensive end Maxx Crosby, Spillane is the most critical player on the Raiders defense. He has played 99.8 percent of the team’s defensive snaps and is one of the best linebackers in the league.

Spillane leads the National Football League in solo tackles and is top five in total tackles on the season. Still, even after nearly losing Spillane to injury last week and his high usage, Raiders coach Antonio Pierce says he has no plans to slow Spillane down.

“Yeah, no. He’s a linebacker,” Pierce said. “He’s got a lot going on,” Pierce said. “It’s a contract year for him. He’s a warrior. He loves the ball. He loves to be a leader. He’s a captain. I went to him right after he came out of the tent.

“I thought, like we all thought, he was done. And he said, ‘No, I’m fine. I’m going out there.’ I
mean, that’s just I think one of the things that scared him. But between him and Maxx (Crosby), you can’t take those two guys off the field and you want more players like that.”

Spillane did not practice this week and rarely misses time. His durability and reliability were a big part of why the Raiders signed the veteran. He has more than held up his end of the bargain, exceeding all expectations except probably his own. Pierce said Spillane will be a game-time decision, but Spillane’s history of rarely missing time means there’s a good chance he’ll play. Time will tell if that is the case.

“He’s not going to practice today,” Pierce said. “And knowing Robert, he’ll be a game-time decision, and knowing Robert, hopefully he’ll play.”

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