Silver Minings: Darren Waller misses practice, again

Dating back to the start of last season, injuries have become a major issue for Las Vegas Raiders' tight end Darren Waller.

Waller missed a good chunk of training camp last year with a nagging injury that seemed to linger longer than expected, and he ended up missing six games during the regular season with other ailments in addition to exiting the matchup against the Cowboys at halftime. It was certainly a frustrating year for the former Pro Bowler and one that he likely never wants to have again.

But unfortunately, the 2022 campaign is starting very similar to 2021.

Before returning on Wednesday, Waller had been sidelined since July 31 with what ESPN reported as a hamstring injury. However, there was no cause for concern as the Raiders down-played the injury and it’s not like he needs a ton of reps in practice anyway. Then it seemed like everything was moving in the right direction when he put the pads back on until he took them off literally the next day, per Tashan Reed of The Athletic.

Now, there’s no reason to hit the panic button just yet. This could just be part of the coaching staff’s and training staff’s plan to ease Waller back into the lineup, but it certainly isn’t a comforting sight given how last season went. He also turns 30 next month which doesn’t help matters.

Keep an eye out for any of the practice attendance tweets today and hopefully, Waller will be back in action and any worrying will all be for not.

In other Raiders’ links:

• Marcel Reece gets another new title: the former fullback will be the Raiders’ Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, per Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
• Kenny Young cut: the team announced the linebacker was let go to make room for defensive end Jordan Jenkins.
• Tyron Johnson’s growth: “speedster looking to become a complete receiver,” pens our Marcus Johnson.
• Raiders given 33 percent odds to make playoffs: Austin Mock of The Athletic projected outcomes for the AFC West and Las Vegas came up with the lowest chance to earn a postseason birth.