Raiders Place Linebacker Marquel Lee on Injured Reserve

Raiders linebacker Marquel Lee needed help getting off the field Sunday in Minnesota after suffering an ankle injury. It happened on just his fifth defensive snap, and prevented a return to action that left the Raiders thin at his position.

Turns out the injury's quite serious. The Raiders placed him on injured reserve on Tuesday, formally signing Dakota Allen off the L.A. Rams practice squad in a corresponding move.

Lee was a capable backup at strongside linebacker and in the middle, especially against the run, but had played sparingly on defense early this season. He was also a valued special teams player now unavailable.

He wasn't the only linebacker to get hurt on Sunday. Nicholas Morrow suffered an ankle injury, and Vontaze Burfict missed some time with an elbow issue. He had knee and shoulder ailments entering the game as well.

The Raiders will try and get Allen up to speed quickly. He'll surely need to be ready even if Morrow and Burfict can go. The Raiders also have Justin Phillips on the practice squad, and they can promote him easily if one of the ailing linebackers can't play. That decision can be made later in the week.

He had seven tackles early this year, a season removed from making 10 starts over 16 games. The career middle linebacker had been moved to the strong side last year, an effective switch for player and team.

Copyright C
Contact Us