The Raiders will be without starting WR Louis Murphy for the next couple of weeks as he has a chest contusion near one of his lungs.  Murphy is the Raiders’ best WR, period.  He has played in all 7 games for the Raiders this year and he has caught 21 passes for 337 yards (16.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Murphy has also carried the ball 1 time for 43 yards this year.  The Raiders are hoping that rookie WR Jacoby Ford will be able to step up in Murphy’s place.  Ford has played in all 7 games for the Raiders so far this year and he has 2 catches for 15 yards (7.5 avg) and 3 carrries for 37 yards (12.3 avg).

The Chargers will be without starting RB Darren McFadden this weekend against the Chargers due to a hamstring injury.  McFadden has carried the ball 85 times for 392 yards (4.6 ypc) with 1 TD run and he has also caught 16 passes for 162 yards (10.1 avg) with 1 TD grab in the Raiders first four games.  Luckily for the Raiders, Michael Bush is ready to take over for McFadden after missing the Raiders first two games with a broken thumb.  Bush has carried the ball 10 times for 53 yards (5.3 ypc) and he has also caught 2 passes for 16 yards (8.0 avg) so far this year.  He should be able to handle a heavy workload this Sunday if the Raiders need him to.

The Oakland Raiders will be without 31-year old DT John Henderson indefinitely due to a stress fracture in his foot.  The 6’7″, 335 pound Henderson has played in 2 games for the Raiders so far this year and he has 8 tackles.  This is a big blow to the Raiders’ D as Henderson is one of the best run defenders on the team.  The Raiders have given up 162.0 yards rushing and 5.3 yards per carry so far this year.

The Raiders have lost RB Michael Bennett indefinitely with a hamstring injury.  Bennett has played in 4 games for the Raiders this year and he has carried the ball 1 time for 6 yards.  He also has 2 receptions for 9 yards (4.5 avg) so far this year.  With Michael Bush now healthy the Raiders likely won’t miss Bennett too much while he is out of action.

The Raiders have placed 26-year old Jay Richardson and 23-year old Alex Daniels on I.R.  Richardson has played 3 years for the Raiders appearing in 48 games in which he has 109 tackles, 7 passes defensed and 7 sacks.  The Raiders will miss Richardson who was part of the rotation for them at DE.  Daniels played in 2 pre-season games for the Raiders and he would have had a hard time getting onto the field in 2010.

UPDATE:  (9/15/2010) – The Raiders have released Jay Richardson and Alex Daniels with injury settlements.

26-year old RB Michael Bush has a broken thumb which could sideline him for the start of the season.  Bush has played in 3 games this pre-season for the Raiders and he carried the ball 22 times for 80 yards (3.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 4 passes for 47 yards (11.8 avg) during the pre-season.  Bush was in line to be the primary ball carrier for the Raiders as this pre-season came right behind a solid 2009.  Bush played in 16 games (7 starts) for the Raiders last year and he carried the ball 123 times for 589 yards (4.8 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also caught 17 passes for 105 yards (6.2 avg) last year.  The Raiders hope Bush is ready to return to action soon.

24-year old WR Chaz Schilens will be out indefinitely (maybe half  the year) as he recently has underwent knee surgery.  This is a blow to the Raiders passing game as they were depending on Schilens to help them in 2010.  Schilens has played in 24 games (14 starts) in his career with the Raiders and he has caught 44 passes for 591 yards (13.4 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  The Raiders hope that Schilens will give them a boost in the passing game in the second half of the 2010 season.

The Raiders have lost 28-year old QB Charlie Frye for the entire 2010 season as they have placed him on I.R. due to surgery on his right wrist.  Frye played in 3 games (all starts) for the Raiders last season and he completed 53 of 87 passes (60.9%) for 581 yards with 1 TD pass and 4 INTs (65.3 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 4 times for 41 yards (10.3 ypc) for the Raiders last season.  With Jason Campbell, Kyle Boller, Bruce Gradkowski and Colt Brennan on the roster it was going be very hard for Frye to make the team.

26-year old DE Jay Richardson needed surgery on his left knee which cause him to miss the rest of the pre-season.  Richardson played in 16 games (0 starts) for the Raiders last season and he had 23 tackles and 3 sacks.  He has now played in 48 games (22 starts) in his three years with the Raiders and he has 109 tackles, 7 sacks and 1 pass defensed.  Richardson is part of a rotation at DE so they hope he’s ready to return to action when the season starts.

The Raiders have placed 25-year old WR/KR Jonathan Holland on the Injured Reserve List ending his season with a ankle injury.  He didn’t catch any passes in his first two years in the NFL.  In 17 games (0 starts) in his two years with the Raiders he has returned 28 kickoffs for 550 yards (19.6 avg).  This is not much of a loss for the Raiders as they weren’t counting on Holland in 2010.