Raiders put Christian Wilkins on IR after undergoing foot surgery

The Raiders got another round of brutal injury news on Tuesday, when it was reported that Christian Wilkins was going on Injured Reserve. The Raiders' star defensive lineman – who they just gave the second-biggest contract of free agency – will miss at least the next four games after undergoing surgery to repair a Jones Fracture in his foot.

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Though IR's a minimum of four games, Wilkins will probably be out closer to six-to-ten weeks. Given how the Raiders' season is going right now – and the fact that they're restarting a quarterback competition five weeks later – it probably wouldn't be all that surprising if Wilkins didn't return this season. Though the Raiders haven't officially said when Wilkins' hurt his foot, there's been some social media speculation that it happened while celebrating with Adam Butler in last Sunday's game in Denver. Antonio Pierce confirmed in his postgame press conference that Wilkins was dealing with a foot injury, but said he didn't know when exactly it occured.

Raiders fans may have seen the last of Christian Wilkins this season

Wilkins was playing well to start the season too, logging over 50 snaps in all but one game (the Denver game when he re-injured his foot) through the first five weeks of the year. He had two sacks, six QB hits, and two tackles for a loss over that time, not totally out of line with his production from basically every season besides his breakthrough one in 2023. Pro Football Focus has him currently ranked 9th out of 124 defensive linemen, and he was on pace to grade higher in both overall defense and run defense.

It's the second major injury the Raiders have dealt with on what was supposed to be one of the best defensive fronts in football. Defensive end Malcom Koonce was put on Injured Reserve before the season even started, and will sit out the entire season after suffering a knee injury during preseason practice. Maxx Crosby's dealing with a high ankle sprain of his own – which forced him to miss Week 4's game against the Browns – though he did play in Sunday's loss.