How Raiders Injuries Opened Up Important Reps for Young Players

The Las Vegas Raiders are looking to end the season on a three-game winning streak. The season has been full of injuries, but that has led to young players getting important reps.

Oct 22, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Tyree Wilson (9) takes a breather on the sidelines against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images / Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders are looking to finish the season off strong. They will host their long time AFC West divisional rival, the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18 at Allegiant Stadium. The Raiders are coming off of back to back wins for the first time all year. The Silver and Black also look to avenge their Week 1 to the Chargers and have momentum heading into the offseason.

The season has been filled with many injuries to key players. Once the injury bug started for the team it did not stop. It seemed like each week the Raiders were scrambling to find a replacement player at different positions.

The injuries opened up opportunities for players to show what they bring to the Silver and Black. Most have taken full advantage of the opportunity. The reps that the young players have been getting all season will be large come next season.

"Well, just in the 16 years I've been in the league, it's a young person's league anyway," said Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. "Whether it's players or coaches, as you get older you get more expensive so they're always trying to replace you with younger players. That's how the rosters are constructed. The young players are going to play, especially in a collision sport like this. But it's always valuable because those guys are hungry for the information. All my older players that I've had are really good players. They're always hungry for information.

"But when you're green and young like that, you want the information, you're listening to everything the coaches are saying to you, and you are gathering information from your experiences out there on the field. And it's always good to see that. It's always good to see that. And then the fact that they can stack it, like, okay, can you learn from your mistake and can you stack it and not get got on that again. That's always encouraging there. That's why that 1 Robber clip for Harp [Thomas Harper] was so big in my opinion, that was a good play."

The Raiders defense has played well all season with all the injuries they have had. Graham has done an excellent job of having all the players ready to play and has put them in a position to be successful.

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