Conley’s Rookie Season Comes to a Disappointing End

Gareon Conley’s rookie season has come to an end.

The team’s No. 1 draft pick this season, Conley was placed on injured reserve Monday with a shin injury. The Raiders used their top pick on the Ohio State standout cornerback, hoping he could elevate the Oakland secondary, yet he played just two games. According to Matt Schneidman of the Bay Area News Group, Conley hadn’t even practiced since Oct. 6.

Conley had a strong game early in the season against the New York Jets, but hurt the shin and came out of the game against Washington the following week with a limp.

For the season, Conley was in on just seven tackles and had one pass defensed.

Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie had said recently that he was hopeful Conley could recover soon and get back on the field at some point this season to help the team’s pass defense, but the injury continued to linger.

“It’s just people’s bodies are different, when you have those type injuries, you wait and see if it can heal and feel better and good enough to play,” McKenzie said. “He was feeling better, then he had a setback. … If he can’t go, then he can’t go and we’re going to have to move on. But we’re going to give him every opportunity to see if he can do it.”

Now that the Raiders have decided to move on and give Conley a chance to fully heal for next season, Oakland’s top cornerbacks going into this Sunday’s game against the Patriots in Mexico City will be TJ Carrie, Sean Smith and Dexter McDonald, with David Amerson trying to work his way back from a foot injury that forced him to miss the team’s last game, against Miami.