Antonio Pierce’s first season as the Las Vegas Raiders‘ full-time head coach couldn’t be going much worse.
All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams reportedly requested a trade, Pierce is still figuring out who his starting QB is after making a change this week from Gardner Minshew to Aidan O’Connell and now the Raiders, who are 2-3 and in last place in the AFC West, will be without one of their best defenders.
Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, who Las Vegas signed to a four-year, $110 million contract in free agency this past offseason, suffered a Jones fracture in his foot on Sunday against the Denver Broncos, according to NFL Media. Wilkins, age 28, had surgery and will be out for the foreseeable future. The typical timeline to return from a Jones fracture, according to the Cleveland Clinic, is three to four months. However, a person’s body can require longer to heal if they need bone grafting to fix the fracture. Las Vegas officially placed him on injured reserve on Wednesday.
“Tired of losing good players, that’s not ever good,” Pierce said Wednesday when asked about Wilkins. “But I tell you what, up to that point Christian was pretty dominant in the first half [against the Broncos in Week 5]. A sack, two TFLs, running around, and it happened early in the second quarter, and he played on it. Really tough S.O.B there. Christian right away went and got it fixed. He was here this morning at 6 a.m. trying to get ready and talking about he’ll be back in a couple weeks. Knowing Christian and his work ethic, obviously it’s disappointing. Next man up mentality. We’ve been dealing with that since Thursday before the Chargers [in Week 1], and we’ll keep dealing with that.”
Wilkins ranked second on the team with two sacks, trailing only three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby’s five in 2024. While there are still 12 games remaining for Las Vegas in the current regular season, it might be time for them to start grinding more and more tape on the 2025 NFL Draft class.
