As far as signs go, this may not be a good one. The Raiders reportedly hosted four defensive backs for visits on Thursday — three cornerbacks and one safety.

OAK: CBs Brian Dixon, Demetrius McCray, Deji Olatoye; S Mykkele Thompson. — Howard Balzer (@HBalzer721) October 5, 2017

Dixon played the past 3 seasons in New Orleans with no starts. McCray is a former 7th round pick who played the past three seasons in Jacksonville, starting 16 games. Olatoye was most recently on the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad and has spent time on the practice squads of four different teams in four years. Thompson was a 2015 5th round pick by the Giants who appeared in one NFL game last season.

What this could suggest is a concern about the long term availability of rookie top pick, Gareon Conley who continues to miss time with a nagging shin injury.

The injury occurred way back in June minicamp. He missed all of training camp, preseason, and the season opener. He returned for a couple games and then again was out for last week’s game in Denver and didn’t practice Wednesday.

When David Amerson was lost to a concussion early in the game the Raiders were suddenly very thin at the corner spot. Dexter McDonald joined Sean Smith and TJ Carrie in the game, leaving just Antonio Hamilton remaining.

Amerson returned to practice Wednesday which means he passed the first stage of the concussion protocol. But this is his second concussion in a little over a month’s time which is concerning as well. Trying out these corners is doing their due diligence to ensure they wouldn’t be thin at cornerback again this week.

Should the team add any of these players, it could either be to the practice squad or the regular season roster. Currently the team has offseason standout cornerback Breon Borders on the practice squad.