Donald Penn – Important – Injury
T Donald Penn, who has been on injured reserve because of a groin injury since Oct. 3 and was eligible to be activated on Dec. 5, might be brought back for the last two games. “Donald is wide open,” head coach John Gruden said. “He wants to play. How many linemen are you going to have up? There is a chance he could be up this week. We’ll address that here in the next couple of days.” Penn started at left tackle for the Raiders the last few seasons and moved over to the right side this season when the Raiders drafted Kolton Miller in the first round.
Marshall Newhouse – Noteworthy
LT Marshall Newhouse made his first start with Carolina in the New Orleans game. He replaced Chris Clark, who has been struggling and not up to full strength.
Head coach Ron Rivera said Clark has been worn down.
Nathan Peterman – Noteworthy – Transaction
QB Nathan Peterman has signed with the Oakland Raiders practice squad, according to multiple media reports.
Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, who was an ESPN analyst at the time, was very high on Peterman, who was cut by the Buffalo Bills more than a month ago, when he came out of Pitt two years ago.
“Peterman is ready to walk in and be a contributor from day one,” Gruden wrote at the time. “He just looks like a pro quarterback — coming out of the huddle, running an offense with different formations, shifting, motioning, different patterns that other colleges don’t run. Peterman will recognize route combinations and associate formations. Peterman is ready to walk in and be a contributor from day one.”
Gruden declared that Peterman was “the draft’s most pro-ready guy.” That draft included Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Deshaun Watson of the Dallas Texans, and Mitchell Trubisky of the Chicago Bears. Peterman struggled the Bills, ranking last in QB rating (30.7) among NFL quarterbacks this season with a minimum of 50 passing attempts before the Bills released him. In four appearances in Buffalo this season, including two starts, Peterman completed 44 of 81 passes for one touchdown with seven interceptions. In his career, Peterman has thrown 12 interceptions on 130 passing attempts.