Mexico home game a ‘competitive disadvantage’ for Raiders

In 2016, the city was good to them with a win at Estadio Azteca over the Houston Texans. Each time players and coaches are asked publicly about this year’s Nov. 19 return, they express appreciation for the city and its people. On Sunday, a Mexican television reporter asked wide receiver Amari Cooper three questions — each first in Spanish and then in English — following a win over the Dolphins in Miami Gardens.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Cooper said of the upcoming meeting with the New England Patriots. “Hopefully we can come out of there with a win again.”

So, it’s nothing personal.

For the second straight year, the Raiders will play in Mexico. And for the second straight year, one of their eight regular-season home games was sacrificed in the process. A franchise values its games in front of a true home crowd. Coach Jack Del Rio’s sentiments ought to be no surprise.

He doesn’t exactly hide them, either.

The topic arose Sunday evening at the conclusion of his postgame news conference. His team now enters a bye week before facing the Patriots.

“Obviously, we get a chance to get a little break and then we’ve got a big, tough assignment on the road, I mean, at home, down in Mexico,” Del Rio said with a grin.

He continued at a Monday news conference: “It’s not thrilling for me to lose a home game, you know? That’s what it is. We’re losing a home game. But that’s what it is. I think I’ve already spent enough time talking about the number of true road games that we’re going to play. It’s a competitive disadvantage in my opinion, one that we’ve faced the last couple years and will face the next few years. But that’s a league rule; that’s out of my domain. I don’t have any control over that.”

The Patriots will play the Denver Broncos on the road this Sunday.

They’ll train in the high altitude of Colorado all of next week before traveling to Mexico. If the Raiders were too concerned with sea level, they could have elected to travel from the Bay Area earlier than their Saturday depature.

Estadio Azteca is located 7,200 feet above sea level.

Wild play

What a sequence it was for right tackle Marshall Newhouse.

“It was good, then bad and then good and then it ended really bad,” he said.

In one fourth-quarter play Sunday, Newhouse allowed a sack, recovered the ensuing fumble and returned it 6 yards before linebacker Kiko Alonso forced a fumble the Dolphins recovered. Negative plays are easier to stomach after a win than a loss. This is one such example.

“I picked up a stunt really well,” Newhouse said of the play’s start. “Then (defensive tackle Ndamukong) Suh got me off-balanced, yanked my collar and stripped the ball. I just instinctually picked it up. At the beginning, I felt it was going to be not as bad initially. Then I kind of blacked out. … I’d just rather it not happen again by blocking Suh. … Glad we won.”

Notable

—  Defensive tackle Darius Latham has completed a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. He became eligible to be activated on the Raiders’ 53-man roster, a move that technically would require a corresponding move to clear roster space. The league provided the team a roster exemption, thereby removing such implications.

—  There will be no media availability Tuesday, as the team begins a bye-week schedule. A light practice will be held Wednesday and Thursday before a minimum four-day rest period, which is required to players in their 2011 collective bargaining agreement.

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Contact reporter Michael Gehlken at mgehlken@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.