The Raiders insist running back Darren McFadden’s healthy.
How long he stays that way with this kind of workload remains to be seen.
“We just go with the offense,” McFadden said, via Paul Gutierrez of CSNBayArea.com. “However the offense is called, that’s how we roll. You never know what to expect when you’re going into a football game — whether you’re going to get it this many times or however — you just roll with the flow of the game.”
McFadden carried the ball 15 times for 32 yards, and caught 13 passes for 86 yards in last night’s loss to the Chargers. He was also targeted with five other passes, meaning his number was called on 33 of the Raiders’ 64 offensive snaps.
For a guy who’s always hurt, however, it was a bold call.
He’s missed at least three game in each of his first three seasons, and missed the last nine games of last year with a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot.
“He’s an explosive playmaker for us, so we’re going to use it,” Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. “But we’ll go back and we’ll look at the tape and we’ll see if there are some things where maybe we can utilize some other people. It’s football, we’re going to use him.”
Of course, the Raiders were without Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford, leaving them short on weapons other than McFadden.
If they keep using him this much, they may be without him soon enough.