Oakland Raiders hoping to get Antonio Brown back to full speed

Antonio Brown has reportedly met with a foot specialist regarding the foot injury that’s been lingering for the 31-year-old receiver.

The biggest move of the Oakland Raiders offseason was the acquisition of Antonio Brown, widely regarded as one of the best wide receivers in the game. Brown comes to the Raiders fresh off six straight 1,000-yard and 100-catch seasons, and looks to continue his dominance in his first season in the Silver and Black.

Brown was recently voted the best in the game during the NFL Network’s Top-100 list, though he still hasn’t taken the field with the team for an extended period of time this summer. Although the injury doesn’t appear to be long term, anytime a new player misses training camp is valuable time, especially with a new team and new quarterback.

Luckily for the Raiders, it has given star quarterback Derek Carr the opportunity to work with his other wideouts, and he has been developing a solid connection with guys like J.J Nelson, Tyrell Williams, and Hunter Renfrow. When Brown gets back, it will only make this unit that much more special.

Head coach Jon Gruden knows Brown is a special player, but he would eventually like to see his star on the field. In a recent interview, Gruden expressed his frustration with not having Brown on the field saying:

"I’m an optimistic guy. I think we’re all disappointed. I think he’s disappointed. We’d all like to get the part started. We’d like to get him out here, he’s a big part of this team. In the meantime we’re gonna continue to work hard. We’ve seen some other receivers we’re excited about."

However, he did talk about other players who have stepped up to the plate in his absence:

"Tyrell Williams has been very good here. I mean, he’s made some big plays at multiple positions and showed great stamina. So he’s been outstanding. Darren Waller has been really good, uh, really, really good, so we’re really fired up about those two guys the most and we’re starting to see others like Marcel Ateman make some plays……..my young friend from the Cardinals, J.J Nelson is starting to make some plays in many different situations. So that’s good and Derek has done a good job distributing the ball."

Derek Carr chimed in about Brown’s absence:

"“We wish that the healing process of whatever’s going on be fast. We want it to be fast, but at the same time you can’t rush things for training camp when you know you have a season and, hopefully, a playoff run to think about.”"

Carr continued his words of encouragement:

"“We just know that when he does show up, we can’t wait to welcome him with open arms, hopefully healthy and just ready to hit it running,. We had so much time in the offseason, we spent a lot of time at my house, throwing. We spent hours upon hours throwing. So there is chemistry, there is development. I’m used to throwing him the ball, so it won’t be brand new when he shows up. It will be just more on him, and the details of the routes, getting out and doing it and correcting it on film and going and fixing it the next day. Those kind of things. But besides that, the timing aspect, the meat and potatoes, so to speak, of what we need is there.”"

All of us here wish Brown a speedy recovery!