The 24-year-old cornerback feels some ownership after three years with the franchise and found what he watched from afar in Sunday’s 30-12 loss to the Bears unacceptable. It wasn’t so much the defeat that bothered Hobbs — that happens to even the best teams in the NFL — but rather the lack of “juice” he witnessed.
“I feel like we need more consistent energy,” Hobbs said. “We just need to show each other that we care if bro makes a play. We’ve got to run over there and celebrate with him because it’s contagious.”
Hobbs is among the most energetic players on the roster, but he’s been unable to show as much even on the sidelines since hurting his ankle in a Week 3 loss to the Steelers. The injury has kept him out ever since and he remained limited in Thursday’s practice.
Hobbs could be setting up to get a “questionable” tag going into the Week 8 Monday Night Football game where the Raiders (3-4) travel to play the Detroit Lions (5-2), but he says he’s plans to play.
Detroit might have the best offense Las Vegas has seen all year, or at least the best since a Week 2 game at Buffalo that didn’t go so well. Even with Hobbs playing in full, the Bills walloped the Raiders 38-10.
“I don’t want to say measuring stick, but it’s a great opportunity, a great challenge,” Hobbs said of facing the Lions. “We definitely feel like we can be a great unit when we’re hitting on all cylinders and we’re in rhythm.”
In his limited time on the field this season, Hobbs has looked like the Raiders’ best player in coverage. The numbers also back it up as he’s the 22nd rated cornerback in the league this season by Pro Football Focus’ grading metric.
Hobbs bounced between inside and outside corner spots last year but has played exclusively in the slot this season, a position that makes him more vital going up against the Lions. It means he’ll be primarily matched up against Detroit top receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who’s coming off back-to-back games with more than 100 yards receiving.
“There are several plays, whoever it is, that we want back,” defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said. “There are calls I want back, so to single out one person with the result like that, I’m not with that. That’s just not me. It’s a collective, there’s 11 people playing defense and we’ve got to play with great effort each play.”
No one has ever questioned Hobbs’ desire. He made a fiery speech about paying off the Raiders for giving him a chance out of University of Illinois as a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and immediately started to live up to the promise.
