The Raiders are the only team in the NFL without a win this season. In fact, it’s been almost a year since they won a game. Yet, quarterback Derek Carr and coach Tony Sparano see no signs of the Raiders losing interest or curtailing their effort.

“When the effort goes down, that’s bad,” Carr said Wednesday. “The energy level is, honestly, like we’re 9-0. Guys run around and are still striving to do whatever they can to make this thing right. Hopefully it will be sooner than later. It’s going to happen one of these days, and I’ll be excited to be a part of it.”

Sparano inherited the coaching reins from Dennis Allen after Allen got fired four games into this season. The Raiders are 0-5 on Sparano’s watch, but Sparano is thankful for the work ethic and commitment by his players during such a rough stretch.

“They work hard when we’re out there,” Sparano said of his players. “We’re in the situation we’re in. Nobody else put us there. We put ourselves there. They came out and gave me a great day’s work (Wednesday). I really love that group of guys in the locker room. They do a heck of a job.”

Carr has been counseled by someone who he calls a “close, reliable source” about what it can be like playing for a team that loses a lot of games. That person presumably is Carr’s older brother David, who joined the expansion Houston Texans in 2002 and spent his first five NFL seasons as their starting quarterback.

The Texans went 24-56 during the time David Carr played for them. So, yes, he knows a thing or two about enduring tough times.

“I’ve heard …about being on teams that started off bad, how coming to work is painful, coming to work is hard, coming to work is a lot of negative things,” Derek Carr said. “I can promise you, coming here, coach Sparano has done such a great job with keeping our positivity and our moods up in meetings, the way we practice, the way we fly around.”

Sparano also has been on teams that lost more than their share of games. He said he is doing “great” and intent upon doing what he can to help the Raiders get their first win.

“I told the players today, I got up Monday morning and I was excited to get to work,” Sparano said. “Listen, we get a chance to coach football every single week and we get a chance to work with great guys every single week. I love this football team.”

— Right offensive tackle Menelik Watson was one of seven players who missed practice Wednesday. However, he said in the locker room that he has passed all the mandatory tests required of players who suffer a concussion. Therefore, there’s a decent chance of Watson being back for the Chargers game Sunday.

— Defensive end Justin Tuck, tight end David Ausberry and safety Jonathan Dowling also missed practice today. Tuck was out with a neck injury, Ausberry still has a sore foot and Dowling has a hurt back.

Also, Khalif Barnes was limited with a sore quadriceps, which he hurt earlier this season. Sparano said he isn’t very concerned about Barnes being unable to play against the Chargers. That’s critical because regular starter Gabe Jackson is out with a knee injury.

If Jackson and Barnes can’t play Sunday, Sparano said Tony Bergstrom or Kevin Boothe likely would get the nod.

— Cornerback TJ Carrie made progress with his sore ankle and was “moving around a lot better today” than he did Sunday, when Carrie tested his ankle before the Broncos game and decided he couldn’t play.

That’s encouraging news for the Raiders, as is the return of Chimdi Chekwa, given DJ Hayden and Carlos Rogers didn’t practice today and their status for the Chargers game is uncertain.

— Hayden missed the final eight games last season with a groin injury that required surgery. He hurt his groin in the second half of the Broncos game last Sunday.

Sparano said he is of the belief that the injuries aren’t related and that it’s just a coincidence that Hayden suffered an injury in the same region of his body.

Before he got injured, Hayden intercepted Peyton Manning and got beat for a touchdown by Emmanuel Sanders. Here’s Sparano’s assessment of Hayden’s performance.

“He played a solid football game,” Sparano said. “Obviously there were a couple of plays there, fundamentally, that he was in a little bit of bad body position on, deep balls and those types of things. Those are things he needs work on.”

— With Jamize Olawale hurting and unable to practice, the Raiders used practice squad linebacker Spencer Hadley at fullback in practice today. Sparano said that was done, in part, to prevent starting fullback Marcel Reece from getting too worn down.

— Carr said he doesn’t recall having ever played a team twice in the same season. He gets to experience that Sunday, when he plays against the Chargers for the second time this season. The teams first met Oct. 12, when the Chargers rallied for a 31-28 victory.

Carr said he is leaning upon offensive coordinator Greg Olson and others to know what to expect and what to do in this situation.

— The Chargers defeated the Raiders 18 times in the teams’ past 22 meetings, dating to the second time they played in the 2003 season.

— It would have been real easy for Sparano to yank Carr late in the Broncos game and give Matt McGloin and/or Matt Schaub some work, along with protecting Carr from any unnecessary hits. Instead, Carr finished the game, which is what he wanted, and expected.

“One, him saying this is my football team, that’s how I feel,” Carr said. “I should be out there no matter what, good, bad or ugly. For a long time, it was ugly. For me, it was really important to continue to finish. I’m all about finishing, so it was really important to me to go out there and finish.

“I’m glad that they kept their guys in, because I would have been mad if they weren’t. I wanted to go out there and compete one last time and just try and correct the things we’d been trying to correct all game.”