Outside of defensive end Maxx Crosby, Spillane is the most critical player on the Raiders defense. He played 99.8 percent of the team’s defensive snaps and is one of the best defenders in the league.

Spillane leads the National Football League in solo tackles and is in the top five in total tackles for the season. Still, despite nearly losing Spillane to an injury last week and his high usage, Raiders coach Antonio Pierce says he has no plans to slow Spillane down.

“Yes, no. “He’s a defender,” Pierce said. “He’s got a lot of work to do.” Pierce said. “This is a contract year for him. He’s a warrior. He loves the ball. He loves being a leader. He’s a captain. I went up to him right after he left the tent.

“I thought he was done, as we all thought. And he said, ‘No, I’m fine. I’ll go there.’ he said.
So I think that’s one of the things that scares him. But between him and Maxx (Crosby), you can’t take those two guys off the field and you want more players like that.”

Spillane has not trained this week and rarely misses time. His durability and reliability were a big part of why the Raiders signed the veteran. He more than fulfilled his end of the bargain, exceeding all expectations except possibly his own. Pierce said Spillane would be a game-time decision, but Spillane’s history of rarely missing time suggests he has a good chance of playing. Time will tell whether this is the case.

“He’s not going to practice today,” Pierce said. “And knowing Robert, it will be a pre-game decision, and knowing Robert, I hope he plays.”

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