Matt Kawahara

The Raiders have parted ways with general manager Reggie McKenzie, according to a report by NFL Network. The move comes with three games left in the Raiders’ seventh season with McKenzie as their GM. NFL Network reported McKenzie was given the choice of finishing out the season as GM but declined. CBS Sports reported Sunday that McKenzie would not be retained after the season. Raiders owner Mark Davis, McKenzie and head coach Jon Gruden all declined comment on the report Sunday. “We’re going to build this team back, I know that,” Gruden said. “We’re going to bring the Raiders...

Raiders officials had no interest Sunday in discussing a CBS Sports report that general manager Reggie McKenzie will not return to the team next season. The report said the Raiders will make changes to their scouting and football operations staffs this offseason as part of an organization rebuild. The Raiders beat the Steelers, 24-21, Sunday but remained tied for the worst record in the NFL at 3-10 in coach Jon Gruden’s first season. Owner Mark Davis said before Sunday’s game he was aware of the report but had no comment. McKenzie did not comment on the report. Gruden declined to address...

Raiders head coach Jon Gruden was asked on Wednesday about maintaining the morale of his players amid a lost season. “This is a tough league,” Gruden said. “You’re going to be in it for seven or eight years, you’re going to have some years where you’re going to have to really prove your mental toughness. But we’re playing for a lot. We’re in our first year. We feel like we’re making some strides.” What strides the Raiders are making toward the end of their first season under Gruden finally bred results Sunday. In a close game late against a potential playoff team for the...

Running back and Vallejo native C.J. Anderson will not make his Raiders debut today after all. Anderson, the former Broncos and Panthers back who went to Cal, was signed by the Raiders last week as insurance with Doug Martin dealing with a knee injury. Martin had a brace on his left knee Friday but practiced all week and is active for today’s game against the Steelers. Martin will be without one of his primary blocker’s, however, as Pro Bowl left guard Kelechi Osemele is inactive due to a toe injury. Osemele did not practice Friday after being limited the previous two days. Jon Feliciano...

The Raiders are adding a Bay Area product to their already crowded backfield. Running back C.J. Anderson, a Richmond native who attended Bethel High School in Vallejo and played at Cal, is signing as a free agent with the Raiders, a source confirmed Tuesday. ESPN first reported the signing. Anderson, 27, spent his first five NFL seasons with the Broncos and set career-highs in rushing attempts (245) and rushing yards (1,007) last season. Denver, though, released Anderson in April. Anderson signed with the Panthers in May and appeared in nine games but had just 24 carries for 104 yards before...

Amid a difficult season, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr has continued to compile some notable career numbers. In the Raiders’ 40-33 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday, Carr completed 29 of 38 passes, moving into second place in NFL history for most completions in a player’s first five seasons. Carr has 1,670 career completions, trailing only Peyton Manning (1,749). With his 285 passing yards, Carr also passed Rich Gannon for the second-most passing yards in Raiders franchise history. Carr has 17,802 career yards and now trails only Ken Stabler (19,078). Carr put those numbers into context after...

The Chiefs arrived in Oakland with sights set on the No. 1 seed in the AFC this season. The Raiders have a better shot at the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft. Both teams made progress toward those outcomes Sunday, though the Raiders gave arguably their most inspired performance of the season. Unable to keep pace with the Chiefs’ potent offense, the Raiders lost 40-33 at the Coliseum to fall to 2-10, while Kansas City became the AFC’s first team to double-digit wins. With the Cardinals beating the Packers on Sunday, the Raiders and 49ers are the only two-win teams remaining in the NFL....

Nose tackle Justin Ellis, who was activated from injured reserve Saturday, will be available to play for the Raiders today against the Chiefs. Ellis has not played since sustaining a foot injury in Week 1 - and the Raiders have missed his inside presence on a rushing defense that ranks last in the NFL, allowing 151.4 yards a game. Defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, who missed two practices last week with an ankle injury, is active, meaning the defensive line should be at full strength for the first time since the season opener. Receiver Martavis Bryant is inactive for a third straight game with...

An NFL equipment manager’s job is largely to ensure that players appear, as the term would suggest, uniform on game day. On Sunday, though, the creative abilities of longtime Raiders equipment manager Bob Romanski will be on full display. Players around the NFL this weekend will be wearing customized cleats featuring a cause or organization that is important to them under the league’s “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign. Romanski designed and, in many cases, painted the special cleats that more than 40 Raiders players will wear for their game against the Chiefs. For Romanski, it’s a...

The Raiders activated nose tackle Justin Ellis from injured reserve Saturday, making him eligible to play Sunday against the AFC West-leading Kansas City Chiefs. Ellis, 27, signed a three-year, $15 million extension in March to be a primary run defender in the Raiders’ defense but suffered a foot injury in the season opener against the Rams. Ellis returned to practice last week but was not activated to face the Ravens. Head coach Jon Gruden has said he hopes Ellis’ return can bolster a Raiders rushing defense that is allowing a league-high 151.4 yards per game. The Chiefs have the...

BALTIMORE - Former Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree said he took no special delight out of helping his new team, the Ravens, to a 34-17 win over his old one Sunday. “I have nothing against the Raiders,” Crabtree said after the game. “As a matter of fact, I love the Raiders. I love them all. I love the guy upstairs, Mark Davis. I have nothing but love for him.” Crabtree had just three catches for 21 yards but delivered a key play with an 8-yard touchdown catch that gave the Ravens a 27-17 lead with 11:16 left in the game. Crabtree lined up wide right and ran a quick slant pattern....

BALTIMORE - Raiders quarterback Derek Carr has had little continuity with his receiving targets this season between trades (Amari Cooper) and injuries (Martavis Bryant, Brandon LaFell, Jordy Nelson). But he has relied on tight end Jared Cook, who leads the team in receiving yards (609) and touchdowns (five) and ranks second in catches (47) behind running back Jalen Richard. In an inconsistent season for the Raiders’ offense, Cook went into Sunday’s game at Baltimore ranked sixth among NFL tight ends in catches and fourth in receiving yards. Cook also matched his career-high with his fifth...

BALTIMORE - After all the speculation of how the Ravens would deploy dual-threat quarterback Lamar Jackson against the Raiders, the answer turned out to be both tedious and effective. The Raiders were worn down by Baltimore’s heavy, grinding running game in the second half of a 34-17 loss at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday, remaining tied for the NFL’s worst record. A loss veered toward a nightmare scenario for the Raiders on a fourth-down play in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Derek Carr was sacked by Ravens linebacker Matthew Judon and stayed down before ultimately limping off the field...

BALTIMORE - After sitting out last Sunday’s game at Arizona with a knee injury, receiver Jordy Nelson is active for today’s game against the Ravens in Baltimore. Nelson sustained the injury in Week 10 against the Chargers and did not record a catch in that game. In three games before that, he’d totaled five catches for 36 yards. Still, his return bolsters what had been a depleted Raiders receiver group with Martavis Bryant out for an indefinite period due to a posterior cruciate ligament injury in his knee. The Raiders have six active receivers today: Nelson, Seth Roberts, Marcell...

The Raiders on Thursday designated defensive tackle Justin Ellis to return from injured reserve. The Raiders now have three weeks to either activate Ellis or place him on season-ending IR. But the former is much more likely as defensive coordinator Paul Guenther indicated that Ellis could be available Sunday against the Ravens. “It’d be great to get him back, we haven’t had him since the first ballgame and he’s a big part of what we’re doing here,” Guenther said. “But he looks good, he feels good. Hopefully he’ll be up and running Sunday.” Ellis, 27, signed a three-year, $15...