DBs MIA

Gareon Conley strolls into the Raiders’ locker room daily, takes a seat in front of his stall and spends about 10-15 minutes chatting up a few of his teammates. More often than not he is wearing a black hoodie pulled tightly around his face as he jokes and laughs.

Then, as he has done for most of the season, Conley stands up and walks out to the practice field where he joins the assistant coaches, video guys and anyone else on the sidelines who is there as an observer.

It is clearly not the way most people saw the year playing out for the Raiders’ first-round draft choice. Conley was supposed to be an anchor in Oakland’s struggling secondary and a key to the rebuild of the pass defense.

Instead, a mysterious shin injury that the Raiders have refused to divulge the details of has kept Conley mostly inactive. And with the team coming out of the bye, there has been talk that Conley might not play again this season.

Yet Conley’s situation is only a small part of the problem in the Raiders’ defensive backfield. Starting cornerback David Amerson has been sidelined by a concussion and shoulder issues. Sean Smith, the other starting corner heading into the season, lost his job and was falling down the depth chart before being pressed into extended duty against the Dolphins in Week 9. Safety Karl Joseph has also been slowed by health problems, although not to the extent of Amerson.