The Oakland Raiders spent a first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft to get cornerback Gareon Conley out of Ohio State in hopes of shoring up their defense against the pass. Unfortunately for the Raiders, Conley hasn’t been able to lend much help to the team, as a right shin injury has kept him away from the field for all but two weeks thus far in his rookie year.
During the team’s weekly media conference, Raiders coach Jack Del Rio further dampened any hopes of Oakland fans seing Conley back in harness anytime soon, failing to tell reporters the exact status of Conley and how long will he remain sidelined.
“I don’t really want to try and paint it in those terms or try and speak to his situation in those terms,” Del Rio said Monday in his weekly media conference. “I think we are going to be patient and do the right thing at the right time with him. We were trying to kind of get him going and see if we could get a little bit [out of him] and it just didn’t really appear to be making the kind of progress we need to make.
“So, when he can do the things that he needs to do and he gets cleared to come back and be full-speed for us, then we’ll know.”
The Raiders are in urgent need of help in the secondary, especially after cornerback Dave Amerson sustained a right foot injury during last Thursday’s 31-30 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Based on what Rio told the media, Oakland should be looking for someone besides Conley for ways to bolster its defense that, through the first six weeks of the season, has been one of the worst against opposing wide receivers, per Football Outsiders.
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