The Raiders haven’t shared any information on the nature of Malcolm Koonce’s knee injury, but there has been some optimism that it might not be a worst-case scenario.
Koonce was placed on the Injured/Reserve list on Saturday and that means he will miss at least a month. But at least on team insider is being told he could miss a lot more time than that.
“Koonce will have to miss at least four games, and sources said the injury could be season-ending,” ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez reported on Saturday.
“Koonce, who played opposite three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby, was seen wearing a sleeve on his right knee at the start of practice Wednesday but was not wearing it during the opening periods of practice Thursday,” Gutierrez added.
There are a variety of knee injuries that Koonce could be dealing with and sometimes the symptoms aren’t the best indicator of severity when it comes to knee injuries.
Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarty said he was “extremely shocked” when he found out how serious his meniscus injury after facing the Raiders in the first week of the preseason. “I thought it was a bruise,” McCarthy said this week. “I thought at most it could’ve been a strain somewhere. But when they told me it’s a pretty serious tear, yeah, I was taken away by that.”
Koonce is in the final year of his rookie contract and was in line to have a significant role in Patrick Graham’s defense. For now, though, the Raiders will have to lean on Tyree Wilson, Janarius Robinson and Charles Snowden to try to fill the void left by Koonce.
x: @raidersbeat
Heal up bro I was hoping for big things from you🙏