Updates following coach Tom Cable’s weekly Monday briefing with the Bay Area media:
— The Raiders could be bringing in a punter for insurance after Shane Lechler strained a hamstring against the Broncos.
“We’ll have to decide pretty quick how we want to attack this,’’ Cable said. “(We’ll have to determine) the severity and what his workload can be, if anything. Once you answer those things, it can give you some direction on what needs to happen.’’
Lechler gave way to Sebastian Janikowski for a punt late in the first half and the fortunate result was Syd’Quan Thompson fumbling the 33-yard line drive and setting Oakland up for a field goal to tie the game.
He returned to punt in the second half.
“He went in at halftime and did some work on it and he was able to go the rest of the game, so it’s a matter of what is the extent of the injury,’’ Cable said. “They’re doing an MRI and all those things today.’’
The Raiders extra kicker during training camp was Swayze Waters, who punted 10 times in the preseason for a 46.6 average with two touchbacks, two punts inside the 20 and a long of 53 yards.
Glenn Pakulak, a left-footed punter who has been on the practice squad and occasionally has a “tryout’’ when the Raiders are preparing to face a left-footed punter, is a possiblility.
Cable said he thought Lechler would be OK to be the holder on place kicks if he couldn’t punt.
— Cable said right tackle Langston Walker had started his concussion protocol and will have to go through the process and be cleared to play against Indinapolis. He said defensive tackle Richard Seymour (hamstring), like Lechler, would be “questionable’’ at this point.
Cable said cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha’s ankle is better today than either of the last two Mondays.
More Cable observations:
Deciding to turn up the intensity at halftime
“It’s really where your team is. How you feel about your team and what you see going on . . . (We) just needed to change the focus of where we were at.’’
The performance of right tackle Mario Henderson
“There’s another guy who was prepared. He went in there and I thought he was a little slow at first, and after about three or four plays, he just got into it and did a really nice job.’’
Sebastian Janikowski’s 6-for-31 touchback rate in the last six games
“With our personnel on our kickoff team, we’re kicking a little bit more directionally, maybe than in the past. Weather, obviously has had a lot to do with that. It depends on the situation.’’
Staying away from pondering `What if . . . ‘
“You do that naturally. It’s human nature. What if you made this kick? What if you scored this touchdown? What if you got this stop? What if? What if? The bottom line is we didn’t and we’re 7-7. We’ve got to find a way to beat Indianapolis this weekend, and hopefully, get some help. Then, if it’s supposed to be, we’ll go to Kansas City and play for it.’’
Preparing for Peyton Manning
“It’s a challenge, no question. But we’re a challenge for him, too. We have to look at it that way. As long as we play the way we’re capable of playing I think it will be a heck of a game.’’
