Former Raiders voice Greg Papa watched Donald Penn’s performance on Friday night and believes the Raiders have a serious problem on their hands.
“You need to go get somebody else, otherwise Derek is going to get hurt,” Papa said Monday on his 95.7 The Game program. “I think this is really unfair what they’re asking Donald Penn to do. It’s unfair. I don’t think he’s healthy. He just got cleared off the PUP list… the play where he got walked back to the quarterback, that was really hard to watch.”
“Right now he has no power, he has no foot speed. I don’t know how you do it.”
Papa also said he isn’t sure a move back to left tackle would solve Penn’s issues, but believes the move to right tackle is only making his recovery even more difficult.
Penn said today that he believes he’ll be ready for the season opener in two weeks, but it’s a little unrealistic to expect an injury to improve dramatically in two weeks considering it has already had more than 30 weeks to heal. If anything, maybe Penn can gain confidence in his foot over the next couple weeks and maybe get a little better range of motion.
If for any reason Penn isn’t able to play week one (or isn’t effective), the Raiders have a big problem on their hands because they don’t have great backups, which is true of most NFL teams. But what that means is there’s no guarantee a decent replacement will be hitting free agency anytime soon, either.
One thing that is for sure, though, is Penn made himself a lot of money by holding out last year. No way he would have gotten much more than the veteran minimum in the condition he’s in right now.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Hateful biased article. It was his first game after a long injury. He takes blocking for Carr very seriously. If Gruden didn’t think he could do it? He’d let him go.
Absolutely agree!
Is David Sharpe next in line at RT, he’s had a solid camp?
I hope people don’t hate on you Mr. Papa and say that’s a sour comment. It is legit. Penn’s man was the one who hurt Carr’s back in the first place. I seen and thought the same. Unfortunately I think Penn’s football day’s are over.
Why the heck is anyone quoting/interviewing Greg Papa? He’s just a freaking announcer; a dude with a good radio voice. He’s never been a coach. He’s never worked in an NFL front office. He’s never been a Trainer, or a Scout.,etc, etc. You’d be better off just getting an opinion from joe-blow fan off of the street. what a b.s. article.
All that is true but he knows the game
Very well
Papa is making a legitimate point, but it’s a bit too early to panic also.
Penn just came off the PUP list and moved to the right side, which he has very little experience playing, so give him a minute to get acclimated.
This is why they drafted Miller and Parker. This is why they picked up Giocomini (who unfortunately struggled with injury as well).
Gruden and co are not going to start Penn if he’s not ready and they do have other options. Sharp was a fourth round pick last season and has the ability to start. There’s also Kirkland, Sillberman, Simmons, Ware and Parker.
No guaranteed answer, but certainly some options.
No need to panic just yet.
I agree maybe he will play left this week
If Reggie hadn’t blown so many draft picks we might have a legit solution for right and left tackle by now. Instead he wastes pick after pick on trash, then think he can “steal” a legit starting tackle in late rounds. What a mess! Thanks McKenzie!
So says the voice of the whiners
its true, Carr’s back is on Penn, So coming back from a season where he laid down and let his QB get hit till he broke ,should be an issue until its not.. the injury just makes it easier to see that Donald Penn isnt the guy to lean on , or the guy the Raiders can depend on to get the job done.. I agree with Papa, have a cpl more guys ready to start, cuz Penn’s a quitter, and he’s not 100%, and Derek needs 110% from his entire line!