Rodney Hudson sits out of Raiders practice with ankle injury

The Oakland Raiders watched their starting center and best offensive lineman, Rodney Hudson, sit out of practice on Wednesday.

The Oakland Raiders are gearing up for a major AFC West showdown that might define their entire season with the Kansas City Chiefs, and they might be forced to deal with a major injury along the offensive front if Wednesday’s injury report holds for the rest of the week.

Center Rodney Hudson sat out of practice on Wednesday with an ankle injury on the heels of a performance against the New York Jets in which he was obviously affected in some way.

Hudson originally entered the NFL with the Chiefs as their former second round pick before taking big money in free agency to swap franchises with the division. Ever since Hudson has taken over the middle for the Raiders, he’s turned into one of the league’s best centers, making the Pro Bowl in both 2016-17.

Already this season, Hudson has missed a start back in Week 9, his first since joining the Raiders in ’16. Hudson has been an iron man as well as an excellent performer up front for Oakland, so if he’s missing it would be a big loss for the Raiders against a Chiefs defensive front that has looked much better as the season has worn on. With Frank Clark returning to health as well as Chris Jones up front, the Raiders will have a hard time with the Chiefs pass rush as it is.

Defensive back LaMarcus Joyner, running back Joshua Jacobs and offensive lineman David Sharpe were limited in practice on Wednesday. It will be key to watch Hudson’s participation levels late in the week to see if the team is being cautious or whether there’s really a chance he could miss the game.