Shortly after the bye week came to an end and a few days away from the showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 8, the Oakland Raiders received some good news as one of the most important players on the offensive line able to get back on the practice.
According to Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com, center Stefen Wisniewski returned to the practice field on Wednesday:
Raiders center Stefen Wisniewski practiced for the first time in more than three weeks on Wednesday afternoon. That’s a huge boon for an ailing offensive line that was in shambles during its last game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The offensive line has been ravaged by injuries over the first six games of the 2013 NFL season and arguably the main reason behind the team being 2-4 heading into Week 8 rather than having a considerably better record. Although Terrelle Pryor has still been able to put pressure on opposing defenses with his quick feet and an improved passing ability, the young quarterback out of Ohio State is coming off the worst performance of his career.
Pryor simply couldn’t get much of anything going against the division rival Kansas City Chiefs before heading into the bye week resulting in three interceptions thrown and being sacked 10 times. The Raiders lost two offensive line to injuries in the loss to the Chiefs with Andre Gurode and Tony Pashos going down.
Ultimately, the Raiders had to convert Mike Brisiel from left guard to center and the results weren’t pretty. Fortunately, the return of Wisniewski and Brisiel moving back to his natural position should drastically improve the play up front.
