Ahead of the Week 5 game against the Indianapolis Colts, linebacker Germaine Pratt did not travel with the team and was ruled out for the contest.
But Pratt's absence for the contest was not injury related, which created a veil of uncertainty about the veteran's situation with the team.
After the game, Raiders head coach Pete Carroll revealed that the team simply wanted to go in a different direction at linebacker for Sunday's game.
"Just decided to go with the other guys," Carroll said after the embarrassing loss, according to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The fact that Pratt didn't travel with the team following his demotion would suggest he had a big problem with it, as one would expect. Because of that, it's definitely fair to wonder if his days with the Raiders are numbered.
Pratt was a free-agent signing of Las Vegas in June just days after he was cut loose by the Cincinnati Bengals following his struggles in recent years.
At the time, the Raiders had a fairly crowded situation at linebacker, but it was still assumed that Pratt would have a sizeable role given his starting experience.
However, Pratt hasn't been playing great football through the225 snaps he saw over the first four games.
He is sporting a 56.7 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, and his 48.0 run defense grade ranks 114th out of 132 linebackers. In coverage, Pratt is giving up a completion rate of 71.4% and a passer rating of 85.6.
Perhaps the Raiders have changed their tune on Pratt after getting crushed by the Colts on Sunday, but right now Pratt's future in Vegas for the rest of the season is murky, at best.
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