Denver Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib missed last Sunday's game against the San Diego Chargers with a back injury, and if his practice availability this week is any indication, he may not play against the Oakland Raiders, either.
Talib has yet to practice this week, and the Broncos announced on Thursday that Talib missed that day's practice because he went to California to get a second opinion on the injury. Coach Gary Kubiak did say that Talib has not yet been ruled out for the game, but they thought it best to send him out there.
"We'll be evaluating when he gets back tonight," Kubiak said, per the team's official website. "We talked to the people in California and we'll see where we're at tomorrow. But it's a day-to-day situation, and we just thought it'd be best to get another opinion."
Kubiak does not sound overly concerned with the injury, but obviously the Broncos would like to get Talib back on the field as soon as possible.
"I'm not a doctor," Kubiak said. "I just know he's got an issue going on with his back. There's good days and bad days. So he feels really good, here we go. And then it bothers him again, stiffens up on him. So we're battling through it and felt like the best thing to do was get another opinion on it."
With the Raiders coming up on the schedule, it's a bad time to not have Talib in action. Oakland sports one of the NFL's best wide receiver duos in Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. The Broncos are lucky to still have some pretty good depth at cornerback, though.
"To me, Bradley (slot corner Bradley Roby) plays as a starter," Kubiak said. "When you're playing against Zebra football teams -- or I should say three-wide, four-wide football teams -- you think of him as a starter. It just bumps everybody up. Doss (Lorenzo Doss) will have to be ready to go if Aqib can't go. It gets into the depth of your roster, which we feel like we've got a good, deep team so some of these young kids [will need] to step up."