Teammates Think Allen Will Play; Flores Skeptical

Raider Coach Tom Flores said Wednesday that Raider offense--er, running back--Marcus Allen is “very questionable” for Sunday’s game against the San Diego Chargers.

“At this point it doesn’t look like he will be playing,” Flores said.

Very questionable being a category that isn’t offered as an option by the NFL for its injury reports, Flores is listing Allen only as questionable.

But given Allen’s toughness and the importance of this game, most of his teammates believe he’ll play.

Allen is still limping on the right ankle he sprained against the New York Giants last week. If he can’t play, the Raiders will know real trouble, with an offense that hasn’t scored a touchdown in two games and with two rookie halfbacks, one of whom has a hamstring pull that kept him out last week, too.

That’s Napoleon McCallum. The Raiders aren’t sure what his status is right now, either.

Flores said quarterback Marc Wilson, who sat out last week with a slight shoulder separation, is throwing better. If he looks OK in today’s practice, he’ll start.

The Raiders filled the spot opened by the loss of tight end Trey Junkin by signing another tight end, Earl Cooper, the former San Francisco 49er who was in camp with them.