Corner injuries create 'heck of a challenge'

The window of opportunity is still there.

But it's down from three games to two, and if the Lions are going to make the most of it, they will have to do it with a secondary patched up even more than usual.

Cornerbacks Jacoby Shepherd and Doug Evans -- signed this week after injuries to Rod Babers and Dre' Bly -- likely will play Sunday when the Lions meet the Oakland Raiders at Ford Field.

Not an ideal situation, but coach Steve Mariucci isn't looking at it that way.

"This is a great game to play right now," Mariucci said Friday. "We've got a Super Bowl team coming in here, and they are very hungry. They have great players, they have guys that you are going to see in Canton, Ohio.

"It's a heck of a challenge for us, putting the pieces of the puzzle together here as we go this week."

The Raiders are coming off an AFC championship season and a Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay. But a week ago they appeared to be one of three teams the Lions had a chance to beat in midseason. Their window of opportunity.

Chicago, winner of just one of their first six games.

Oakland, winner of two of their first seven.

And the Bears again at Ford Field.

If the Lions were going to put together a hot streak, those three games appeared the most inviting. But the loss last Sunday to the Bears reduced the window to two games, and now the Lions are three-point underdogs against the Raiders, who have had a bye week to gather themselves for the second half of the season.

The Lions have spent much of the past week getting acquainted with their new cornerbacks.

Shepherd was signed early in the week to fill in for Babers, who suffered a dislocated shoulder and is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game. Evans was signed Friday after Bly's hamstring tightened in practice Thursday.

"Dre' Bly didn't come out today," Mariucci said after the Friday workout. "He was getting some rehab and treatment, and he's still hoping to play. He's our sixth corner that is hurt when you add them up, and that is really unusual for one position."

Bly was listed as probable on the injury report Friday. But even if he starts, it's questionable whether the hamstring will hold up for an entire game of coverage against NFL all-time receiving leader Jerry Rice and veterans Tim Brown and Jerry Porter.

Mariucci probably couldn't have picked a worse time to go through a cornerback crisis.

"No, it's not a great time," he said, "but think of the opportunity these guys have to play some ball against some Hall of Famers."

The Raiders have not been as explosive as they were a year ago on their way to the Super Bowl. Quarterback Rich Gannon has struggled, Rice and Brown haven't been as productive, and the Raiders have missed the big-play ability of Porter while he recovered from physical problems.

Quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo rallied the Raiders after Gannon was hurt in the Monday night loss to Kansas City, and Tuiasosopo will get his first NFL start against the Lions.

With their defense injured and struggling, the Lions desperately need production from their offense, which has scored one touchdown in the past 131 minutes of football.

"The troops are depleted," quarterback Joey Harrington said. "It's important because part of being on a team is picking up the slack when your teammates need you.

"I know when we have been struggling, we've looked to the defense and they've done a pretty good job for us. On Sunday, they may look at us, and we need to carry the day."

NOTEBOOK: The Lions put offensive tackle Victor Rogers on injured reserve with a back ailment that surfaced a week ago, making room on the roster for Evans, who was released earlier in the season by the Seattle Seahawks. . . . Babers, whose shoulder dislocation apparently is less serious than season-ending dislocations suffered by running back James Stewart and Andre Goodman, was upgraded to doubtful, but cornerback Jimmy Wyrick was downgraded from questionable to doubtful with a chest injury. . . . Defensive end Robert Porcher was put on the injury list as questionable after missing practice time with a sore hip.