The Las Vegas Raiders won’t be making many changes after their season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, but one will likely be a timeshare at running back. While starter Zamir White had a fumble, backup Alexander Mattison scored on a 31-yard touchdown catch and run where he hurdled a couple of players.
“You’re in the game thinking, ‘Hey, listen, a lot of Zamir White,’ and then Alex Mattison makes some plays,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said at Monday’s weekly news conference. “And as we go throughout the week, we’ll look at that more and more.”
Pierce later added that he will go with the hot hand, and that really started already Sunday. Mattison played 36 of the Raiders’ 60 offensive snaps — finishing with 19 yards rushing on five carries and four catches for 43 yards — while White was on the field for 23 snaps. He had 44 yards rushing on 13 carries and two catches for 1 yard.
It turns out Mattison, signed in the offseason from the Minnesota Vikings, was preoccupied as well.
“I give him a lot of credit,” Pierce said. “His wife went into labor right before the game started and for him to stay focused like that. Baby boy was born last night. So, congrats to him. But I thought he did a heck of a job. Every time he went in there, he made…
