Center Stefen Wisniewski has been ruled out for Thursday’s preseason finale at Seattle with a nagging calf injury, Raiders coach Dennis Allen said Sunday afternoon.
Wisniewski entered training camp as the presumptive starting center after starting at left guard last year during his rookie season. But he hasn’t played or practiced since being hurt early in the Raiders’ preseason opener against Dallas, and Allen said there’s no guarantee Wisniewski will be the starter when he returns.
Alex Parsons has started at center the past two games and worked with the first team throughout the offseason while Wisniewski recovered from shoulder surgery.
“I think we’ll deal with that when we get to that, but there’s nothing promised either way,” Allen said. “There’s nothing promised as far as he’s going to run in there and be the starter, and we’re not making that decision that he wouldn’t be. We’ll wait and cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Allen said Wisniewski hasn’t suffered a “setback” in his recovery.
“The calf just hasn’t quite responded as fast as I would hope. But we’re still within that window of when we thought he might be ready to go.”
Janikowski update: K Sebastian Janikowski has a “sore groin” after trying to chase down Lions kick returner Justin Miller during an 80-yard return. “He’s a little tight, but it doesn’t seem to be any real pull, defect in the muscle or anything like that,” Allen said. “So I don’t anticipate it being a big deal.” Allen said he doesn’t know whether Janikowski will kick at Seattle, but he expects him to be ready for the regular-season opener Sept. 10.
Roster cuts: Allen didn’t announce any moves in advance of Monday’s 1 p.m. PDT deadline for teams to trim its roster to 75, but S Aaron Henry, an undrafted rookie from Wisconsin, said on Twitter that he had been cut. The Baltimore Sun reported that S Chaz Powell, a rookie from Penn State, was waived and that OT Ed Wang was waived-injured. Wang has been sidelined by a shoulder injury.
High praise: Allen said DE Lamarr Houston “played an outstanding game” against Detroit. “He was all over the place. He played with great energy and passion. He played the game the way that we expect him to play.”
Houston led the team with eight tackles, two for a loss. He played left end in the base defense and often moved inside to tackle in the nickel, showing his versatility.
On the hot seat? Second-year CB DeMarcus Van Dyke and Chimdi Chekwa played most of the second half against Detroit, but they received mixed reviews from Allen.
“We got to continue to work to get better with those guys,” Allen said. “They do some good things and then all of a sudden you look up and say, ‘Why did they do that.’ I’m not totally down on them, but we got to get better there. We got to keep improving.”
Moore update: Denarius Moore (hamstring) hasn’t appeared in a preseason game and likely won’t at Seattle, but Allen said he’s “confident” that he’ll be ready for the opener. “He got a chance to go out on the field before the game last night and ran some routes,” Allen said. “So I feel pretty confident that he’s close.”
Allen said there’s just a small chance that Moore will play at Seattle.
“The only way we’re going to put him out there is if we feel confident that he’s fully ready to go. The last thing I want to do is put him out there, have him pull up again and now we’re going into the regular season and he’s going to be battling that all year long,” Allen said. “So, our plan is to get him healthy where he’s good to go and, hopefully, we won’t have to deal with this throughout the season.”
Seattle plans: Allen said he expects most of the starters to play Thursday night at Seattle. “I don’t anticipate holding a lot of guys out,” he said. “If the guys are healthy and good to go, the plan is to let them play.”
Does that go for RB Darren McFadden, too?
“We’ll look at that as we get close to game time,” Allen said. “I don’t have to make that decision yet. Again, the primary thing we want to make sure is we have all of our starting 11 in all three phases ready to go opening night, Monday night against San Diego. So whatever decisions we have to make to ensure that, we’ll do that.”
Extra points: DT Richard Seymour has been slowed by arthritis in a knee, Allen said. He has appeared in only one preseason game and has missed numerous practices. “So he gets a little pain, a little swilling. We got to be able to manage that.” … CB Pat Lee has a sore back and could miss a few days of practice, but he should be able to play at Seattle, Allen said. … WR Jacoby Ford (sprained left foot) has made “some progress” but isn’t ready to practice, Allen said. “He’s still got the (walking) boot, but he’s been able to take the boot off and walk pain-free.”
Follow Raiders reporter Eric Gilmore on Twitter: @CBSSportsNFLOAK.
