Edwards may be out

Defensive end Kalimba Edwards has a hip flexor that could keep him out of Sunday’s game against Kansas City. That’s not good news, especially against a Chiefs team that has improved its passing dramatically over the last few weeks.

Edwards injured himself late in practice on Thanksgiving Day and is listed as questionable on the Raiders injury report. Interim head coach Tom Cable didn’t give any further information on Friday.

Edwards leads Oakland with five sacks, his most since 2005, and was a spark for the Raiders’ pass rush while two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Derrick Burgess was sidelined with a triceps injury.

Burgess returned after a six-game absence last week to help the Raiders harass Denver quarterback Jay Cutler into one of his worst games of the season.

If Edwards is unable to play, Oakland would likely turn to Jay Richardson to start while using rookie Trevor Scott as a backup to both Richardson and Burgess.

The Raiders, who are trying to build momentum off last week’s win over the Broncos, are facing a Kansas City offense that has improved significantly since Tyler Thigpen took over as the Chiefs’ quarterback.

Thigpen has thrown for 11 touchdowns with three interceptions in the last five games and is coming off a 240-yard, three-TD day against Buffalo last week.

Oakland had a fairly easy time with the Chiefs in their first meeting earlier this year but that was when Kansas City’s offenses was in disarray and the team was struggling for consistency at the quarterback job.

If Edwards is out, the Raiders job in trying to slow Thigpen will be that much more difficult but the plus side is that Richardson and Scott aren’t just getting thrown in cold. Richardson has started nine games this season while Scott played extended minutes and showed flashes of strong play while Burgess was sidelined.