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Menelik Watson reveals injury, severity

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Raiders rookie second round pick, Menelik Watson left practice after re-aggravating a calf injury. I caught up with him following practice where he discusses his frustrations and the severity of the injury.

USA TODAY Sports

Just minutes after returning to practice today after being out all of camp, Menelik Watson left the field after re-aggravating the injury. The injury is a calf strain he suffered about a week prior to the beginning of training camp. He was going through offensive line position drills and ten minutes later, the calf gave him problems again, forcing him out once again.

The rookie round two pick was visibly frustrated with the setback and spoke of his frustration following practice.

"I felt good. I felt fine," said Watson of before the re-aggravation. "I didn't have any pain. I was aware of the situation and that I had to be careful. I talked about it with the training staff, that we were going to take it slow. You get out there and you get your juices flowing and you're trying to push it ... and it happened.

"I'll take a couple days, re-evaluate it, get back out there and go through the rehab process," said Watson. "Of course man, this is not the way I planned on my first training camp. I've not even took a snap yet. It's very frustrating, especially after the spring, making good strides in the spring. I wanted to get out there and get on the field."

But even with his frustrations, Watson doesn't feel like the injury is too serious and though he won't be playing in the team's first preseason game on Friday, he hopes to get back next week.

"No it's not a total setback. I'm still getting mental reps. Like I told the coaches as soon as this thing's healed I'm ready to go. It happened a couple days ago and a week back and it took me back a day or two. Obviously we'll see how it feels tomorrow. If it feels good, get back out there and just get running again. Another day or two together. Obviously won't be able to go in the game, but get out there and run around and get ready for next week."