Raiders activate Jack Bech for Jets trip as Crosby trade talk builds

The Raiders got a receiver back and lost an edge rusher on Saturday, one day before kickoff in New Jersey. The team activated wide receiver Jack Bech from injured reserve and placed defensive end Patrick Johnson on IR in the corresponding move.

Bech broke his forearm in Week 3 against New Orleans and went on IR on September 29. He was designated to return to practice on October 26, which started the three week clock the Raiders closed out with four days to spare. His season so far is five catches for 48 yards and a touchdown in three games, which is not a lot of production, but it is a healthy body at a position where the Raiders have been shuffling bodies all season. Johnson, listed with a stinger on the Week 8 injury report, had already been ruled out.

Kickoff is 1 p.m. Eastern at MetLife Stadium on FOX. The Raiders arrive at 3-4 on a four game losing streak, against a Jets team at 2-5. Both sides are selling the same thing: a season that still has a pulse if the next eight weeks go differently than the last four.

New York will be short on the defensive front. T'Vondre Sweat and Joseph Ossai are out, Max Mitchell is out with a concussion, and rookie edge David Bailey is doubtful with a groin injury. Breece Hall is questionable with a quad. For a Raiders offense that spent last week being outscored 35-21 by the Rams, a thinned out opposing front seven is the kind of break you do not get twice.

The louder story is nine days away. Tom Pelissero wrote that Maxx Crosby "wants to be a Raider, he has no desire to leave, and he is definitely not forcing his way out," while also arguing that a 29 year old Crosby should fetch what a 29 year old Jeffery Simmons did. Bleacher Report noted that general manager John Spytek is sure to field calls before the November 10 deadline, and Sports Illustrated picked up the Cowboys angle. Read the ledger honestly: a 3-4 team with a 29 year old edge rusher owed roughly $18.3 million the rest of this year is exactly the team that takes the call.

Watch Bech's snap count, since questionable on Saturday rarely means a full workload on Sunday. Watch Jackson Powers-Johnson, questionable with a back injury on an offensive line that cannot spare him. And watch whether a win here changes how the front office answers the phone next week.