There were two new running backs on the field on day two of Raiders practice. They were number 37 and 39. If you’re following along, those two numbers are already taken. But they’re in black — safety Tyree Gillespie and cornerback Nate Hobbs respectively. No matter, the Raiders were desperate for running backs and he had to get a number, so taken or not, those are the numbers they got.
Number 37 is Darius Jackson, a former sixth round pick out of Eastern Michigan who played four games in 2018 for the Packers and Cowboys. Number 39 is BJ Emmons and undrafted rookie out of Florida Atlantic.
As for the Raiders desperation, that comes from being without three running backs on the first day of camp.
One of those backs was Kenyan Drake who has an undisclosed injury that has placed in him on the NFI list. The other two are Jalen Richard and Theo Riddick who landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. And right out the gates of camp, there’s the feeling of ‘here we go again.’
“COVID is obviously still very real and it kind of hit us in the face here yesterday,” said Raiders OC Greg Olson. “You never want to have players miss [practice] but that’s the world we live in right now with COVID. It’s unfortunate those guys to have contacted it or to be in close proximity that they actually miss time because of that.”
The three losses at running back left just Josh Jacobs and undrafted rookie Trey Ragas as the lone running backs, making it vital the Raiders brought in someone to take some reps. Should either Richard or Riddick be out due to close proximity, he should be back in short order should he test negative.