As Jack Del Rio announced Friday, the Raiders have sent cornerback DJ Hayden to injured reserve with a hamstring injury. In a corresponding move, they signed Branden Jackson from the practice squad to the active roster.
Jackson was originally a tryout last spring, going undrafted out of Texas Tech. He was signed and had a good looking training camp and after being among the team’s final roster cuts, was signed to the practice squad.
The team can use the depth with Stacy McGee and Darius Latham both out for Sunday’s game against the Bills.
As for Hayden, he may have played his last game in a Raiders uniform. Last offseason, the team declined to exercise his fifth year option which would make him a free agent after this season.
In 2013, Hayden was the new regime’s first first round pick at 12 overall. The Raiders had the 3rd overall pick in that draft, but traded down to 12 with the Dolphins, picking up a second round pick in the process which they used on Menelik Watson.
In his four seasons in Oakland, Hayden had a rocky time. He was chosen at 12 overall despite coming off a life-threatening heart injury his final season at Houston. He later had surgery to remove scar tissue from his abdomen that had him miss his entire first offseason, and spend most of camp in a red non-contact jersey.
He played 8 games as a rookie before being done for the season with a knee injury. Subsequent injuries had him miss an entire year of football, beginning the 2014 season on the PUP list.
After that, he appeared in 37-straight games up to now. In total he appeared in 45 games over four seasons, starting 25 with a career 3 interceptions.
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