No sooner did the Raiders plane touch down in London, but they learned that starting middle linebacker Vontaze Burfict would be turning around and heading back home. He had been suspended for the rest of the season for a lowering his helmet into Colts tight end Jack Doyle.
Many of the players were probably waking up from having slept on the long flight over to the news they would be without their middle linebacker the rest of the season. None reacted more vitriolic than fellow linebacker Tahir Whitehead.