The Las Vegas Raiders won their season opener against the Baltimore Ravens in what was an epic Monday Night Football showdown. However, after all the cheers and celebration, the harsh reality is starting to sink in for Jon Gruden and Co.
As Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk reported, Gruden and the rest of the Raiders are concerned about possible long-term injuries to veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota, defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and guard Denzelle Good after the match against the Ravens.
Mariota ran for 31 yards against the Ravens in a quarterback run play. However, it was the only appearance he made after he was ruled out for the rest of the contest after re-aggravating his quad injury. While the 27-year-old serves as a backup for Derek Carr, Gruden has big plans for him that could very well be affected by the injury.
“Yeah, we lost a big part of our offense,” Joe Gruden said of Marcus Mariota. “Hopefully it’s not going to linger on. He missed the whole preseason with a quad strain. He strained it again last night. The severity of that injury kept him out of the game. it’s too bad — it was a 31-yard gain to really give us an element we haven’t really had around here.”
As for Yannick Ngakoue, he picked up a hamstring strain during Monday's game. Meanwhile, Gerald McCoy had to be carted off due to a knee injury. Gruden doesn't have the full details yet on the extent of their injuries, but he is hoping that it won't be a long-term issue as the Raiders initially feared.
“Hopefully Yannick is not as seriously injured as he possibly can be–we don’t know the outcome yet,” Gruden added. “Losing McCoy is a big loss to our leadership network and our D-line.”
The win against the Raven was certainly a morale-boosting one for the Raiders, but injuries could very well stymie their hot start to the 2021 campaign.
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