–The on-again, off-again presence of wide receiver Martavis Bryant is off again, “for a couple of weeks or longer” due to a knee injury, head coach Jon Gruden said.
Veteran wide receiver Jordy Nelson is questionable with a bone bruise on his knee. He didn’t practice Wednesday.
–A team seeking players: The Raiders tried out at least 11 players this week – wide receivers Rashard Davis, ArDarius Stewart, Josh Huff, Charles Johnson, and Griff Whalen; punter Drew Kaser; safeties Afolabi Laguda, Tray Matthews, Stephen Roberts, J.J. Wilcox and quarterback Alek Torgersen.
On Tuesday the team elevated wide receiver Saeed Blacknall from the practice squad to the active roster. He is a 6-foot-2, 208-pound receiver originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of Penn State (2014-17). As a Nittany Lion, Blacknall played 48 games (15 starts), caught 50 passes for 979 yards (19.6 average) and seven touchdowns. He made All-Academic Big Ten three times, which is indeed academic on the playing field.
Signed to the practice squad: Wide receivers (Rashard) Davis and (ArDarius) Stewart, both designated by head coach Jon Gruden to serve this week as “opposing receivers” giving the defense a look at how the Cardinals run patterns, typical scout-team duty.
Davis is 5-foot-9, 175-pounds, out of James Madison. He was originally signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He spent that year on the Eagles practice squad. Davis earned FCS All-American honors in 2016 with the Dukes after posting a conference record four touchdowns on punt returns.
Stewart was a third-round selection (79th overall) by the New York Jets in 2017. A 5-foot-11, 204-pounder out of Alabama, Stewart appeared in 15 contests as a Jets rookie, making two starts and compiling six receptions for 82 yards. At Alabama (2014-16), he appeared in 40 games and made 29 starts over his career, recording 129 receptions for 1,713 yards and 12 scores.
–Check that calendar: The NFL announced Wednesday that the Raiders are involved in one of the scheduling changes over the next two weeks.
In Week 14 (Dec. 9), the Pittsburgh Steelers at Oakland Raiders game originally scheduled for 8:20 PM ET on NBC will move to 4:25 PM ET on FOX. Yep, sad day in Raiders history when Oakland-Pittsburgh is not good enough for prime time.
–Defensive end Kony Ealy was waived from the active roster Tuesday and linebacker James Cowser was released from the practice squad.
Ealy signed with the club as a free agent ahead of Week 10. Over his 62-game career, Ealy made 19 starts and compiled 90 tackles (53 solo), 15 sacks, two interceptions, 14 passes defensed, six forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
But Ealy was not active for Sunday’s game against the Chargers.
–Carr nominated for Art Rooney Award: For the third consecutive year, quarterback Derek Carr is the Raiders’ nominee for the NFL’s Art Rooney Sportsmanship award.
Said Carr: “For people to see that in me, that’s really cool. I want people to talk about my character and who I am as a man way more than they talk about me as a football player.”
