Raiders: Tyrell Williams placed on injured reserve with torn labrum

The Las Vegas Raiders have placed wide receiver Tyrell Williams on the injured reserve.

The Las Vegas Raiders won’t be seeing Tyrell Williams on the field in the franchise’s first season in Sin City as the veteran wide receiver was officially placed on the injured reserve on Tuesday.

Williams originally tore his labrum in his shoulder last month but insisted to the team that he planned on playing through the injury.

After missing time last year with multiple foot injuries, Williams wanted to return to full health in 2020 and live up to his hefty salary. Unfortunately, he evidently decided that the risk wasn’t worth it.

As reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Williams is expected to get surgery on his shoulder and will miss the entirety of the 2020 season. This will allow him to return healthy in 2021, but it’s undoubtedly a huge blow to both him and the Raiders.

Williams was signed to a four-year, $44 million contract in the 2019 offseason and was expected to start as the No. 2 receiver opposite Antonio Brown. Of course, the Brown situation didn’t work out and Williams became the de facto No. 1 wideout entering the year.

Unfortunately, multiple injuries to his foot limited his production and caused him to miss a pair of games. The 28-year-old finished the year with just 42 catches for 651 yards and six touchdowns — not awful numbers, but not the production the Raiders were looking for.

And now, the oft-injured receiver will find himself sidelined again marking another blemish on his disappointing Raiders tenure.

How will the Raiders replace Tyrell Williams?

As for the Raiders, they will turn to a pair of rookies in an attempt to replace the oldest member of their receiving corps.

First-round pick Henry Ruggs will step into the No. 1 wideout role. The former Alabama star has been turning heads in training camp and has shown the versatility to play in multiple different spots.

Meanwhile, third-round pick Bryan Edwards likely has the most to gain from this as he will, in all likelihood, step into a starting role now. The South Carolina product has been perhaps the team’s most impressive player this summer and now he’ll be rewarded for it.

There were some who believed that Edwards would wind up starting over Williams regardless. Now, it’s all but guaranteed.

The Raiders have enough receiver depth to replace Williams. Nonetheless, it’s never promising to see a projected starter land on the injured reserve before the start of the season.