The Las Vegas Raiders had relatively good injury luck to begin the 2025 NFL season. In fact, throughout the preseason, the team was remarkably healthy, and a lot of that can be attributed to minority owner Tom Brady's friend, Alex Guerrero, who is now the team's Wellness Coordinator.
Most of the injuries that had been sustained were due to impact, like Lonnie Johnson Jr.'s broken fibula, Aidan O'Connell's broken wrist or Jackson Powers-Johnson's concussion, and not non-contact injuries or tweaks and sprains.
Unfortunately, the injury bug has bitten the team a bit more as of late, with both starting cornerback Eric Stokes spraining his knee and star left tackle Kolton Miller sustaining a high ankle sprain in Week 4's loss to the Chicago Bears.
Ian Rapoport confirms Raiders' Kolton Miller is headed to IR
Unfortunately, despite early reports that Miller may just miss a few weeks and make a full recovery, his MRI and CT scan said otherwise. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that not only did the MRI reveal a sprain, but a CT scan revealed a hairline fracture in his ankle.
This means that the Raiders' stalwart left tackle, who the team gave a $66 million extension to just before the season, will be headed to the Injured Reserve. He will now be out for at least four weeks as he recovers.
In terms of his timeline and games missed, that means he will miss Week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts, Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans and Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Las Vegas has a bye in Week 8, so hopefully, Miller misses just three games in the next four weeks.
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However, injuries like this can sometimes take between six and eight weeks to recover, which means he could be back as late as Week 13's matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. Not having Miller until after Thanksgiving would be simply disastrous for the Las Vegas offense.
Stone Forsythe is likely to start in Miller's place, at least for now, much to the dismay of Raiders fans. However, there is truly no player like Miller on the team's roster in terms of his consistently elite output anchoring the left side of the offensive line.
Hopefully, Miller's brutal injury does not sideline him for too long. Yet, it is also important to think about the future and ensure that he makes a full recovery. The team extended him this offseason to be a part of the Raiders' long-term plan, and there's no telling what their record will be when he's back.