The Sports Xchange

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Oakland Raiders’ run of good luck on the injury front ended with a familiar face in a Week 3 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

Menelik Watson, a second-round selection in 2013 and plagued by injuries his first two seasons, was lost to an Achilles tear that will end his season before it had a chance to begin.

Watson had held off Austin Howard at right tackle and appeared to be cruising into the regular-season opener having won the job, hopefully validating the faith the Raiders had in making him a second-round draft pick.

While attempting to pass block, Watson went down awkwardly, was helped to the sideline and was visibly upset after talking to the training staff. The Raiders have been tight-lipped regarding injury specifics under head coach Jack Del Rio, but Watson spilled the beans on his Twitter account.

“Ruptured Achilles tendon. I will be back stronger than ever and that’s a promise. Main thing is supporting the team right now,” Watson tweeted.

Del Rio called Watson’s injury a “tough break” and said, “He was having a great camp for us. He’ll bounce back but it’s a big setback.”

Howard, who signed a five-year, $30 million contract with the Raiders in 2013 after playing right tackle with the Jets only to be moved to guard, was put back at right tackle by the new coaching staff.

After Watson went down, Howard was beaten on a move by Arizona outside rusher Alex Okafor, who leveled quarterback Derek Carr.

Del Rio expressed confidence in Howard’s ability to take over. Other options include veteran Khalif Barnes, who has started at both tackle spots as a Raider and also inside at guard.

Ideally, the Raiders would like to leave Barnes in that role and have Howard seize the day as a starter.

“He’s a pro,” Del Rio said. “I mean, this guy’s gotten better I feel throughout camp so he’ll be called on for obviously a much bigger role. That might not have been if Menelik stayed healthy. That’s part of why you have depth and competition. We’ll count on him to play a big role for us.”

Howard looks forward for the chance to play, although he feels bad about the reason for it.

“You never want to see a fellow teammate go down like that,” Howard said. “We hope and pray for a quick recovery for him and just take it one day at a time.”

Howard thinks the time he spent at guard will help him in terms of being an all-around, versatile lineman.

–Defensive end Khalil Mack erupted on a national stage — albeit a preseason one — in the Raiders’ loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Mack had two sacks, several pressures and had analyst Cris Collinsworth nearly salivating at the microphone.

“If I needed a yard, I run anywhere on planet earth other than at Khalil Mack,” Collinsworth said.

Mack, listed as a defensive end instead of at strong-side linebacker this year, isn’t putting much stock into where he is announced.

“We have a special group of guys,” Mack said. “We have a solid group. Once we get together, once we put it all on display, it’s going to be a special thing. You will see.”

Said free safety Charles Woodson: “Being able to play 16 games as a rookie, I think the game for him is already slowing down. This guy is only going to get better. He’s only getting his feet wet right now. He is going to be a star.”

–Running back Trent Richardson will pocket $600,000 in bonus money after being cut by the Raiders in the move to 75 players. Richardson, the former No.3 pick in the NFL draft, also gets more than $3 million from Indianapolis this year.

Richardson lost weight and came to the Raiders presumably feeling quicker, but the coaching staff never saw the explosion they were hoping for as backs on the depth chart such as Michael Dyer, Roy Helu Jr. and Taiwan Jones moved to the forefront. It didn’t help that Jones is a key special teams player and that Richardson didn’t fit in that area.

Although lead back Latavaius Murray struggled against Arizona (a net of one yards on seven carries), Richardson was never able to mount a challenge at a position that was thought to be competitive. It didn’t help that Richardson was late getting started in camp because of pneumonia.

Richardson had 42 yards on 15 preseason carries, averaging 2.8 yards per attempt.