It's a different team without him on the field in tackling and coverage. I don't think it will cripple us since the Raiders are a dink/dunk offense, but he will definitely be missed.

 

Without Minkah I would be far more worried about Safety, but it makes me more concerned about cornerback now.

 

His absence hurts us defensively in a significant way. Jones can play strong, weak, free and offenses have trouble matching up against him. He’s that good and why he’s a Pro Bowl player.

It’s definitely going to be a test for Fitzpatrick to see if he can step up and prove why he was a first round draft pick

 

I think we just got a preview of how important.

 

Still very important Hopefully Branch and Hayes aren't lost for the season.

 

Well, we were elite with Jones and pretty good without him. If I had to pick, I'd vote for being elite. =)

The difference of the game was two Raiders trips to the red zone for zero points (one pick, one T/O on downs). I wouldn't say we can't compete without Jones but good gosh, Nelson wouldn't have had those two huge gains today with him out there either.

 

If you think about it, we took a rookie with two games of experience and asked him to step in for one of the top safeties in the league.....basically with a few weeks of practice in training camp. He was out of place a few times today but being able to trust the kid that much is freaking insane. He's going to be so ridiculously good in the years ahead.

 

Is that Minkah you’re talking about?

 

We most definitely will need him against the Patriots but if he’s not 100%, i dont want him risking further injury on that shoulder. We will just have to beat the patriots without him. Tho his blitzing abilities would make it easier to accomplish.

 

Yes.

 

Yup!

 

He may turn out to be one of our greatest draft picks ever.

 

I think we just saw how important Jones' run support is.