Matt Kawahara

Being Derek Carr’s primary receiving target has resulted in a gaudy stat line in each of the Raiders’ first two games. Tight end Jared Cook had nine catches for 180 yards in Week 1. Last weekend in Denver, receiver Amari Cooper had 10 catches on 10 targets for 116 yards. “So maybe I’m in the rotation this week,” receiver Jordy Nelson said, grinning. “We’ll see.” Nelson, the Raiders’ biggest free-agent acquisition this spring, is off to a quiet start with five catches for 53 yards in two games. He was targeted four times at Denver and did not have a catch in the second half....

DENVER — Holding a two-point lead with less than two minutes remaining, a Raiders defense that had shut out the Broncos for the first half Sunday took the field needing one more stop. “We have a chance to shut them” down, linebacker Derrick Johnson said. “As a defense, we’ve got to be licking our chops and saying, ‘Hey, let’s go. Here we go.’” Instead, it was the Broncos who went 62 yards in 10 plays, driving from their 20-yard-line to set up a 36-yard field goal by Brandon McManus in a 20-19 win that that sunk the Raiders to 0-2 to start the second Jon Gruden era. It was a...

Wide receiver and returner Dwayne Harris, who was limited in practice all week with a foot injury, is inactive for the Raiders today against the Broncos. Harris is the primary kick and punt returner. The player listed as the backup at both spots - cornerback Nick Nelson - is also inactive. Running back Jalen Richard handled punt return duties last season and is a potential replacement on both kick and punt returns. The Raiders will also need two new gunners on punt coverage: Harris and Keon Hatcher, who was cut to create a roster spot for Martavis Bryant, handled that job in Week 1. Defensive...

Kelsey Martinez crawled at five months old and walked at nine months, says her mother, Khris Fuentes. She rode her first bike without training wheels. She hated being inside and spent much of her childhood in Pueblo, Colo., outdoors and playing sports. “She was in the trees, she was playing baseball, you name it,” Fuentes said. “Everything that the boys could do, she could do.” And still, when Martinez told her mother she intended to pursue a coaching job in the NFL, Fuentes figured there would be challenges. “I told her, ‘That’s great, and I want you to have goals like that,...

Receiver Martavis Bryant said on Thursday he was “very surprised” to be waived by the Raiders amid roster cut-downs Sept. 1 “Honestly, I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Bryant said. “I just stayed focused, talked to my agent and continued to do the proper things I needed to do to put myself in a situation to get back to football.” He didn’t have to wait long. The Raiders re-signed Bryant, 26, on Wednesday, just 11 days after deciding not to carry him on their Week 1 roster. Little about Bryant’s tenure has been typical since the Raiders acquired him from Pittsburgh...

The Raiders officially re-signed receiver Martavis Bryant on Wednesday, 11 days after waiving him in 53-man roster cut-downs. Head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Reggie McKenzie said after that Sept. 1 decision that Bryant had been out-performed by other receivers in training camp. One of the receivers who made the roster over Bryant, Keon Hatcher, was waived Wednesday to clear a roster spot. “I think he’s in a good place right now,” Gruden said of Bryant. “I think he’s healthy. I think he’s ready to go. And I’m sold on that. We’ve been in contact with him since he has...

Last season, Bruce Irvin was on the field for nearly 85 percent of the Raiders’ defensive snaps and never fewer than two-thirds of their snaps in a game. In Monday night’s 33-13 loss to the Rams, Irvin played fewer than half of the defensive snaps for the Raiders - 31 of 63. Irvin’s in a new role this season as a rush-first defensive end, and as promised the Raiders used a heavy rotation along their defensive front in their season-opener. As some might have feared, meanwhile, particularly after the Raiders traded Khalil Mack to the Bears, their defensive front didn’t generate much of...

Receiver Brandon LaFell, signed by the Raiders a week ago, is among their inactive players for Monday night’s season opener against the Los Angeles Rams. That leaves the Raiders with five active receivers: Amari Cooper, Jordy Nelson, Seth Roberts, Dwayne Harris and Keon Hatcher. Hatcher caught three touchdowns in the team’s preseason finale in Seattle. Defensive end Tank Carradine is notably also inactive. Carradine spent much of the offseason playing with the first-team defense at the end spot that would have been filled by Khalil Mack. Who lines up in that spot now? The Raiders are...

The Raiders added an experienced passing target for Derek Carr on Monday, signing free-agent receiver Brandon LaFell. LaFell, 31, had 52 catches for 548 yards and three touchdowns last season with Cincinnati. The ninth-year veteran was released by the Bengals in August at his own request, according to NFL Network. The Raiders waived receiver Johnny Holton as the corresponding move for LaFell, who joins his fourth NFL team after stints with the Panthers (2010-13), Patriots (2014-15) and Bengals. “I felt like this was a team that was a contender,” LaFell said. “Not this last season, but...

The third-round draft pick the Raiders traded to Pittsburgh for Martavis Bryant in April became a sunk cost Saturday when Oakland waived the wide receiver amid cut-downs to reach the roster limit. Head coach Jon Gruden, though, said Sunday he does not consider the trade a mistake. “I think the guy’s a superb talent,” Gruden said of Bryant. “Not everything’s a perfect science. We’ll be criticized for that. But it was a risk, I think, well worth taking.” Bryant, 26, had 17 touchdown catches in 36 games with Pittsburgh. But he was also suspended twice for violating the NFL policy...

Following a flurry of activity Saturday, the Raiders announced their initial 53-man roster to start the season. Notable players waived included receiver Martavis Bryant, whom ESPN reported is facing a suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, former second-round pick Mario Edwards Jr., and backup quarterback candidate Connor Cook. The Raiders acquired quarterback AJ McCarron on Saturday from the Bills for a 2019 fifth-round draft pick and also released EJ Manuel, leaving McCarron their lone backup to Derek Carr. The Raiders also put kicker Eddy Piñeiro and running back...

The Raiders’ biggest roster news Saturday had little to do with players thought to be on the 53-man bubble. Instead, the focus turned to their trade of All-Pro edge rusher Khalil Mack. But that was hardly the only news related to the team, which also saw a cornerback suspended, acquired a backup quarterback and released a wide receiver it had traded for in April. The Raiders will begin this season without cornerback Daryl Worley, who was suspended four games for violating NFL policies on substance abuse and personal conduct. Worley is suspended without pay and will be eligible to return...

ESPN and NFL Network are reporting Saturday morning that the Raiders are in the process of trading star edge rusher Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears. ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the Raiders and Bears had an agreement in place to trade Mack, the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year, to Chicago. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the compensation would include at least two first-round picks. Neither team has confirmed. A message to Mack’s agent was not immediately returned. Mack, 27, has been away from the team all offseason while his representatives and Oakland ostensibly...

SEATTLE — One of the big questions for the Raiders entering Thursday night’s preseason finale remained their backup quarterback situation. If this was a final audition, EJ Manuel stole the show. Manuel completed 18 of 22 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns in the Raiders’ 30-19 win over the Seahawks, playing deep into the second half and stating his case to start the season as the backup to Derek Carr. Carr was one of about 40 Raiders who did not suit up Thursday, which offered hints about the handful of roster spots still up for grabs. From the start, Manuel looked sharp,...

SEATTLE — A few hours before Thursday’s preseason finale, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr was on the field throwing passes to five of the team’s receivers. Those receivers: Amari Cooper, Jordy Nelson, Martavis Bryant, Dwayne Harris and Seth Roberts. Like Carr, none of the five was in uniform for kickoff. With the Raiders resting many players who are expected to contribute Week 1, it indicated the basis of their receiver corps to open the season. Cooper and Nelson were roster locks and Bryant was expected to make the team despite head coach Jon Gruden and others saying he had an...