The Oakland Raiders will once again be without their starting running back this Sunday. Latavius Murray, who sat out the Raiders' Week 5 win over the Chargers with a toe injury, will be inactive again in Week 6 when the Chiefs come to Oakland.
DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard are expected to once again split most of the backfield reps in Murray's absence, with Jamize Olawale working in as well. Washington and Richard each had 14 touches last week, while Washington out-snapped Richard 37 to 23.
Murray was Oakland's featured back last season, seeing the field on just south of 70 percent of the team's snaps, but he had seen his workload decrease this year even before his injury. In Oakland's first four games, Murray was on the field for only 53.5 percent of the snaps, per Pro Football Focus, and never more than 61.6 percent in any of the four games.
His yards per carry average is actually up to 4.3 from 4.0 in 2015, but he received only 12.5 touches per game through the first four weeks compared to 19.2 per game last year.
The Raiders have a chance to extend their lead in the AFC West to a full game with a win, thanks to the Broncos' loss to the Chargers on Thursday. Oakland enters the game at 4-1, while the Broncos are now 4-2 after their second consecutive loss. The Chiefs, coming off their bye week, are 2-2 and badly need a win to keep pace in the division.
