No one wants injuries to happen, but they’re inevitable in the NFL. The Raiders suffered injuries to several starters in the season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. Center Andre James, linebacker Denzel Perryman, and safety Tre’von Moehrig were all ruled out on Friday and are among the team’s inactives today against the Cardinals.
As a result, a couple of the team’s preseason standouts will make their Raiders debut in the team’s preseason opener today.
Tashawn Bower led the NFL with four sacks this preseason. He was inactive for the season opener last week and gets the nod today, becoming the fifth edge rusher on the game day roster.
Darien Butler finished seventh in the league with 21 combined preseason tackles (13 solo). The Perryman injury has him and fellow undrafted linebacker Luke Masterson both active.
Along with Butler and Masterson, two other undrafted rookies are active — CB Sam Webb and S Isaiah Pola-Mao. This will also be Pola-Mao’s NFL debut. And it means that all four of the undrafted rookies on the Raiders roster are active today.