Raiders "at a standstill" with Jacoby Ford's foot injury

The Raiders open their 2012 season on Monday without starting slot receiver and kick returner, Jacoby Ford. He is the only member of the team who has been officially ruled out for the game. He injured his foot in the Raiders' second preseason game in Arizona and he hasn't returned to practice since.

The oddest thing about the foot is the MRI results came back negative according to Dennis Allen. And yet Ford was in a walking boot for a couple weeks following the injury and it has been three weeks since he practiced with his teammates.

Initially the prognosis seemed like he might return for the opener. He wasn't officially ruled out until Saturday. But now it appears Dennis Allen is at a loss as far as what to make of the injury.

"No, he hasn't been on the field yet," Allen said of Ford. "We're a little bit at a standstill with him right now. We're going to keep evaluating him and see where he's at, but he's obviously out this week."

When asked if the injury could require surgery of any kind, he said, "I don't know that."

This is especially concerning for Ford who missed several weeks last season with injuries, one of which was a sprained foot. His recovery was slow then too.

All other players who were injured in training camp or preseason have returned to practice at least on a limited basis including fellow receivers Denarius Moore (hamstring), and Juron Criner (ankle), who are officially listed as questionable for Monday's game. Both are expected to play.

Ford has been jogging at some practices but most of this week he wasn't even on the sideline during practice. At Saturday's practice, he was simply standing along the sideline. The most he did was toss a football back and forth with trainers and coaches during warm-ups.

At the rate of "standstill" there's no telling when we could see Jacoby Ford back on the field for the Raiders.