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It has been a long and arduous road to getting on the field for Oakland Raiders second-year cornerback Gareon Conley in his recovery from a bothersome shin injury. It was an ailment that forced him to miss all but two games in his rookie campaign that has become an extended recovery process.
However, there finally appears to be light at the end of the tunnel as head coach Jon Gruden has stated that Conley is quite close to finally returning to the practice field. (h/t Levi Damien of Silver and Black Pride.)
“Conley is doing well. He’s very close,” Jon Gruden said last Friday. “He participated in the veteran minicamp in the walk-throughs and he’s running with our defensive backs out here on the field. He’s extremely close to get the green light. We’re just being smart with him.
This is an encouraging development as the Raiders have much invested in the 22-year-old to become a huge piece of the puzzle defensively after taking him with the 24th overall pick in last year's draft. If Conley is able to get back on the field this offseason, he could possibly challenge for a starting role in the team's revamped secondary.
He had shown at the collegiate level to have plenty of potential to develop into a viable cornerback at the next level with his ability to work well in press coverage along with possessing great speed and ball skills to defend against the pass. It is a situation to monitor given that it has been nearly a year since he suffered the injury in minicamp last June.
There is no rush for the Raiders to get back on the field before he has proven that he can physically handle the workload. With start of training camp less than two weeks away, Conley could possibly be back in the fold to finally get his career on the right track.
