There is a time when Blake Bortles is useful. That time is now. Bortles is now the backup quarterback for the Rams. He's going to see extended playing time against the Raiders. Bortles loves Sean McVay's scheme and system.

The Rams will be holding out their star skill position players. Bortles, though, has worked extensively with the second unit. So he already has a rapport with Mike Thomas and JoJo Natson. The Rams have an underrated running back, rookie Darrell Henderson. He could make his mark in this game as the Raiders' defense doesn't look much better than last season's unti that gave up an NFL-worst 29.2 points per game and had only 13 sacks.

The teams have held joint practices the past couple of days and the Rams have come away as the far superior team, which they are.

The Rams beat the Raiders, 19-15, at home during preseason last year.

The Raiders also have been distracted by the filming of Hard Knocks and Antonio Brown's ridiculous behavior.