Raiders' Ashton Jeanty questionable as Patriots rule out four cornerbacks

The Raiders left for Foxborough on Friday with their lead running back a coin flip. The official Week 5 injury report lists Ashton Jeanty as questionable with ankle and foot injuries, and his week went the wrong direction: full participation Wednesday, limited Thursday, no practice at all Friday. Nobody files a Friday absence under good news.

Three Raiders are out. Receiver Jalen Nailor has a concussion and did not practice all week. Guard Trey Zuhn III has a knee injury. The odd one is receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr., who practiced fully every day after the team opened his return window and still does not have a helmet for Sunday. Brock Bowers carried a knee designation but went full Thursday and Friday and drew no game status, which is as close to cleared as this report gets.

If Jeanty sits, the carries go to rookie Mike Washington Jr., who Raiders Beat expects to handle the bulk of the work. Opinion: that is a smaller loss than the name suggests. Las Vegas averages 93.0 rushing yards a game, 24th in the league, while scoring 28.8 a game, eighth, per the team's own game preview. The run game has been a rounding error in this 3-1 start, not the engine.

New England's report reads worse. The Patriots ruled out six players, four of them cornerbacks: outside starters Christian Gonzalez (shoulder) and Carlton Davis III (neck), plus Channing Canada and Karon Prunty with hamstrings. Receiver Mack Hollins (calf) and fullback Reggie Gilliam are also out, and running back Rhamondre Stevenson is questionable with a knee.

So a short-handed Raiders receiving corps meets a secondary held together with tape. That matchup is the clearest edge Las Vegas has on the road, and it arrives alongside the turnover math. The Raiders lead the NFL with nine takeaways, five of them fumble recoveries, against a New England offense that NBC Sports Boston counts for a league-worst 10 giveaways.

The Patriots have noticed. "The defense is very opportunistic. They hunt the football," coach Mike Vrabel said this week, per the team site. Safety Kevin Byard III on Bowers: "I wouldn't even call him a tight end, he's the number one receiver."

Kickoff is 1 p.m. Eastern on CBS. Watch for the pregame word on Jeanty, and watch whether Kirk Cousins actually attacks the corners New England has left.