Oakland Raiders: Mario Edwards May Miss Significant Regular Season Time

Oakland Raiders defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. suffered an injury in the preseason opener, and now may miss significant time to start the regular season.

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The road in the NFL is filled with twists and turns – and plenty of potholes. Just ask Oakland Raiders second year defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. His young career has been filled with more obstacles and pitfalls than seems fair. After defying his critics and becoming a defensive force last season, Edwards suffered a neck injury that cost him the last few games of 2015.

There were a lot of questions about his future in the wake of his injury, but after a long and grueling rehab, Edwards made a triumphant return to the field. With the second year man back in the fold and a beefed up defensive front, the Raiders looked like they had a defense loaded for bear. And one that was going to make some real noise in the league this season.

And then the preseason got underway and things changed.

In that first preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals, the Raider Nation held their collective breath when Edwards had to be carted off the field. Though it was a scary sight, it was initially believed that his injury wasn’t serious, though he would miss 4-6 weeks. With that time frame, Edwards likely would have missed only the first couple of weeks of the regular season.

The time frame of Edwards’ return though, has been changed, and it appears very likely that he is going to miss significant regular season time after all.

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On Wednesday, Raiders HC Jack Del Rio told beat writer Vic Tafur that the team might need to place Edwards on the injured reserve list, meaning that he would miss the first six weeks of the season. Placing Edwards on IR would allow the Raiders to fill his spot with another player. And then after six games, the team would then have three weeks to decide whether or not to put him back on the 53-man roster.

Losing Edwards is a blow for a Raiders defense that was developing quite nicely. They addressed some significant needs over the course of this offseason and shored up some of their biggest holes. Having fielded a pass defense that was as porous as they come last year, the Raiders went out and got Sean Smith to pair with David Amerson on the corners. They also drafted Karl Joseph and added Reggie Nelson, giving them a pair of big hitting, ball hawking safeties.

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Having overhauled their secondary, the Raiders added what seemed like a thousand pass rushers. Shilique Calhoun, Jihad Ward, Bruce Irvin, re-signing Aldon Smith (though we won’t see him until November – at least), helped reload a defensive front that was pretty stout against the run last year.

Though they finished the season with the league’s thirteenth best run defense, they were actually the second best unit in that category for a time last season. It was certainly a vast improvement over the previous few years. And Edwards was a big part of that.

Perhaps it’s coincidence, but ever since Edwards went down against Arizona, Oakland’s run defense has been terrible. They’ve been gashed continuously and have been giving up yards by the bushel. Maybe it’s coincidence, but maybe it’s not.

Edwards did a great job of setting the edge and playing very tough against the run last year. Denico Autry and Ward have both taken turns at the position, but it’s clear that they’re not even close to being in Edwards’ league at the moment.

With Edwards very likely to miss significant regular season time, the team has to hope that be it Autry, Ward, perhaps even James Cowser, that whoever steps into the spot will be able to fill the shoes as well.

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If they can’t stop the run, the Raiders might be in real trouble.

Though it’s not a done deal yet, signs seem to be pointing to the team moving Edwards to the IR and him missing the first six weeks of the season. At least. Which is most definitely, not welcome news in an offseason that has – to this point – been filled with good vibes and harmony.