The Las Vegas Raiders come into town and are completely exhausted. The Denver Broncos They are also battered and bruised, but the Raiders are probably missing their best offensive and defensive players.

On Thursday, Las Vegas received good news: left tackle Kolton Miller returned to practice after missing Wednesday’s session. But conspicuously missing from the Raiders’ participation report were wide receiver Davante Adams and, perhaps most importantly, defensive end Maxx Crosby.

The coverage of Adams has that he missed the direct duel against Patrick Surtain II in week 5. But Crosby’s status is one Mile High Huddle is checked daily throughout the week.

The Pro Bowler is dealing with an ankle injury and while he has expressed hope of being back in Week 5, missing the first two days of practice before the game isn’t the most positive sign. Accordingly The athleteThis is Tashan ReedCrosby was working part-time with the Raiders coaches on Wednesday, so he was out there, and he’ll likely be eager to play this week.

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This isn’t definitive, however, as teams often give their players a rest on Wednesday and Thursday before trying things out on Friday. Depending on the severity of his injury, that player will often be limited during Friday practice, usually resulting in a “questionable” final designation for the game. Full attendance on Friday almost always means the player will be on the field on game day.

For Broncos fans tired of Crosby and the Raiders’ eight-game winning streak, Friday’s final injury report for Week 5 will likely be the deciding factor. Still, it sometimes happens that a player does DNP (didn’t participate) on Friday, rests on Saturday, then tries the pregame warmup and feels well enough to play.

But this early in the season, the Raiders will want to be smart with Crosby. As important as this AFC West rivalry game is, it’s Week 5. There’s still a long fight to settle and the Raiders won’t want to do anything that unduly jeopardizes Crosby’s potential to remain in the trenches for the remaining 18 weeks of the war of attrition.

Crosby caused a lot of havoc for the Broncos by playing pass rushing from the right side. The prospect of facing Broncos right tackle Alex Palczewski, who only has a few NFL starts under his belt, probably has him worried.

Aside from the three starters the Broncos have placed on injured reserve since the start of the season, the team is mostly healthy. Otherwise, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the show?

It’s worth keeping an eye on the status of running back Tyler Badie after he suffered a nasty back injury at MetLife Stadium last week, collapsing and being carried off the field. Broncos head coach Sean Payton said Tuesday that Badie “possibly” lands on IR.

Denver received excellent contributions from both Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin last week, but with rookie fifth-rounder Audric Estime on IR, look for Blake Watson to get some touches to relieve the top two defenders on the depth chart. Watson is an undrafted rookie from Memphis.

The Broncos too signed running back Salvon Ahmed to the practice squad earlier this week. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him elevated on Sunday, but it could take at least a week for Payton to feel comfortable, including Ahmed.

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