Neither McKenzie nor Allen will use the salary cap, lack of draft picks or injuries as an excuse. It’s good for them to have that mentality during the season before turning a critical eye on the roster in the offseason. They might not want to use it as an excuse, but this is a team undergoing a major rebuild.
About half of the 2011 roster has already been purged for salary, performance or attitude. More changes should be expected after the 2012 season. There are also new schemes to learn, and not every player kept is a scheme fit (as we’ve come to find out over the course of the 2012 season).
Primary Talking Point for Week 11
Linebacker Aaron Curry was released after just two weeks on the active roster. Curry missed all of training camp with sore knees and was on the physically unable to perform list for the first eight games of the season.
The Raiders traded for Curry in the middle of last season to help a bad run defense. Miles Burris and Philip Wheeler have performed well enough at outside linebacker to make Curry an afterthought. It’s odd the Raiders would keep Curry around so long only to get rid of him so quickly, but two personal foul penalties certainly didn’t help his case.
If Curry’s knees were still an issue, it would make sense that they wanted to get rid of him while he was still healthy enough to play. If the coaches could tell that Curry wasn’t a part of the future, and all he was going to do was make mental mistakes in limited snaps, then the Raiders are better off without him.
Injury Outlook
Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson continue to be sidelined with ank...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
