Filed for print . . .



The difficulty of the Raiders’ schedule is written all over their 0-9 won-loss record.



Yet there may not be a more challenging stretch physically than finishing out the month of November.

As a result, a day after the Raiders fell 41-17 to the Denver Broncos, interim head coach Tony Sparano told his team to take Monday off and to come back on Wednesday.

When the Raiders return to practice, they’ll begin preparations for a road game Sunday against the San Diego Chargers (5-4), who are coming off their bye week and eager to get things going again after two consecutive losses before the break.

The following Thursday, the Raiders host the Kansas City (6-3) as they run the gauntlet of AFC West teams _ all of them over .500 and with legitimate playoff aspirations.

The month ends on the road in St. Louis, with the Raiders playing three games in a span of 15 days.

So the two-day break wasn’t some sort of plan for the Raiders to contemplate the error of their ways so much as it was a chance to prepare mentally and physically as they seek their first win of the season.

“It’s not a result of what happened,” Sparano said Monday at his weekly press conference. “I kind of figured that’s the way you guys would spin it, but it’s not. I knew in my mind this was going to be a player’s day off no matter what. I would have liked to call it a `Victory Monday,’ but I knew either way I needed to give them a day off to heal up and stop for gas.”

Sparano said the schedule was derived from playing on Thanksgiving every year when on staff at Dallas, as well as other Thursday games at his various coaching stops.

While the players will be zeroing in on San Diego, preparation for the Chiefs game the ensuing Thursday has already begun for the coaches.

“At the end of the week when our game plan was done, I laid out the schedule for the coaches for the Thursday game,” Sparano said. “We spent time on Kansas City either Friday night or Saturday morning, trying to do some homework and get ahead in that way.”

Sparano plans no dramatic changes in hopes of flipping the script. He said he told the team they deserved better, as did the owner and the fans. He talked about staying focused then offered a bit of perspective.

“It’s like I told my coaches this morning,” Sparano said. “I woke up, and at some point the sun came up here _ a little later than normal, but it came up, it’s a new day and we’re getting ready to win a game in San Diego. Why not?”

— Offensive tackle Menelik Watson will go through the NFL concussion protocol and be unable to play until cleared. He was replaced by Matt McCants against Denver because Khalif Barnes, the primary backup at both tackles, was subbing for injured rookie left guard Gabe Jackson.

There were no updates on cornerback DJ Hayden, who left in the fourth quarter with a groin injury.

Sparano said TJ Carrie, who was limited in practice last week and listed as questionable, simply wasn’t healthy enough to play on a bad ankle “in that kind of game,” referring to facing Peyton Manning and a pass-heavy Denver offense.

— Sparano said the main problem with the foundering running game (15 carries, 30 yards, zero rushing first downs) remains “attempts.”

The Raiders all but abandoned the run early in the second half with the Broncos having a big lead and Oakland running a two-minute offense. In the first half, when the game was close, the Raiders threw the ball 23 times and had nine rushes for 14 yards.

— St. Louis (3-6) is the only team among the remaining seven on the Raiders’ schedule that currently does not have a record over .500.