Oakland Raiders Place Rookie Cornerback Gareon Conley on Injured Reserve Due to Shin Injury
The Oakland Raiders have finally decided to shut down rookie cornerback Gareon Conley for the rest of the season.
The team has announced that they are sending their top pick this year to the injured reserve list as he continues to deal with a lingering shin injury.
"I think he's going to be a really good player for us. We tried to give him time to see if we'd have a shot to get him back in the later half of this year. That's just not going to happen. We'll look for him to heal and mend and then be ready to help us next year," Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio said of Conley in a press conference, via the team's official website.
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Last week, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie also spoke about Conley and he said they were giving him the opportunity to show that he could overcome the injury, but he also noted that they would have to move on if he's not healthy enough to play.
"It's just people's bodies are different, when you have those type injuries, you wait and see if it can heal and feel better and good enough to play," McKenzie said last week, according to the Mercury News.
Conley originally injured his shin in June and it forced him to miss training camp and the entire preseason. The rookie cornerback played in only two games this seasons.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Conley will likely have to undergo surgery to fix the damage to his shin.
In a corresponding move, the Raiders have reinstated defensive lineman Darius Latham to the 53-man roster. He was suspended for four games in October for violating the National Football League's (NFL) substance abuse policy.
David Amerson, Sean Smith and T.J. Carrie will continue to see significant minutes at cornerback with Conley ruled out for the rest of the season.
