There has been a lot of optimism around the Raiders in the last few months and the only slightly dark cloud that has loomed over the offseason has been the status of Christian Wilkins’ foot.
Not a lot is known about the setback Wilkins suffered sometime in January or February, but the situation was bad enough that he was back in a walking boot at one point and hasn’t been anywhere close to full speed in voluntary practices.
“He’s a big-time player. He needs to be an elite pro bowler, and [Pete Carroll] talked about it being challenging. So coming off of foot injury for a big guy, oversized guy, he’s here every day, he’s working through with the doctors, and we’re only here in May,” ‘JT the Brick’ said on his Raider Nation Radio show last week.
“We care about his health and wellness… but from a perspective of how much money he’s making and how much money has been given to him and guaranteed money, he has got to play,” JT continued. “And he’s got to be elite… He says he’s doing everything right to get back here again. I don’t know what to tell you, but it’s not good. It’s not devastating. It’s not horrible, but it’s not good.”
Wilkins is one of the top defensive tackles in the league and if healthy in 2025, the Raiders could have one of the best defensive lines in NFL.
But there is still a lot of uncertainty around Wilkins’ foot and The Athletic’s Tashan Reed offered an update on Friday that was about as detailed as any to this point.
From Reed, via the Just Win podcast…
“The thing with Wilkins was last season after the surgery, which was in October, he got placed in a boot. By the end of the season, he had worked his way out of the boot. Earlier this offseason, he had to be placed back in the boot. The reason why, I haven’t gleaned that yet, it’s not certain, but clearly some sort of setback must have happened for him to be placed back in the boot. But he was able to get back out of that by the start of OTAs.
So he’s walking around without that on his left foot. And last week during the first OTA practice with veterans, he was there and he was present, but he didn’t have a helmet, he wasn’t participating in any of the drills. And just watching him move, like he really can’t, it doesn’t seem like he can run really.
When the defensive linemen, they kind of take off jogging to go do their individual drills on one side of the field. He was walking over there with him, but he was like walking the entire way. There was no jogging, there was no running and maybe he can and he just is taking it easy on it. I think that was when it was like a sign of like, okay, like there’s still a significant road to be, you know, traveled here for him to get back to being ready to play.”
It’s not a great sign that Wilkins has been limited in recent weeks, but every report from beat writers around the Raiders have said the expectation is that he will be back to full strength when the season begins.
In theory, if there was already one setback, the potential is probably a little greater that there could be another, but it’s a safe assumption at this point that the Raiders will be as cautious as possible with Wilkins until training camp and maybe even preseason.
