With multiple injuries to veteran players for the Las Vegas Raiders, the youth of this Raiders team must show up in Week 6 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Raiders coaching staff does have total confidence in any player they send out on the field to set up and be successful.
This is why you see NFL teams bring in veteran players who might not be getting a lot of snaps. But it is to have a presence in the locker room and on gamedays. These veterans will help the young players develop their game to NFL standards and help them in what they might see from a team week to week.
Raiders running back Ameer Abdullah is a veteran presence not only for the running backs and the offense but for the whole team as well. Abdullah is a 10-year veteran out of the University of Nebraska. The Raiders signed Abdullah in 2022, and he has had a great presence for this team.
Abdullah spoke on the challenge he and his team will face on Sunday.
"I mean, they [the Steelers] play fast, and they play hard," Abdullah told Eddie Paskal on "Upon Further Review" this past week. They are a team that has kept the nucleus for a while. In terms of the coaches, the schematics of things like that. You could tell those guys understand what they are asked to do. They kind of play freely. I think that is what you aspire to be as an organization. Where you could kind of keep a certain level of success together, where you can at least keep the pieces together. ... Which is amazing. That is where you want to get to. When you could do that, you can start bringing in guys who fit that mode, and those guys know what they are asked to do.
The Raiders will face a very good Steelers led by defensive end T.J. Watt, someone Abdullah is quite familiar with.
"Starting with T.J. Watt, I played against him in college," Abdullah said. "I think he is, in my generation, probably one of the best defensive end. Of course, I think our guy, Maxx Crosby is as good or even better. But on the next level, Patrick Queen they brought in, Elandon Roberts. ... They set the tone. On all levels, they got someone who kind of sets the tone. I think we have a great challenge in front of us, but I like what our guys are -- the confidence and intentionality our guys have this week. We understand the challenge, and we know we can match that."
