NAPA, Calif. — Oakland Raiders cornerback Gareon Conley missed his third straight training camp practice on Sunday with a hip strain, and while coach Jon Gruden said he did not have a timetable for Conley to return to practice, he did say it was a “fair assessment” that he would miss a few weeks.
Conley, the Raiders’ first-round draft pick in 2017, was limited to two games of his rookie season due to a shin injury originally suffered in the offseason that cost him all of training camp and the preseason and later required surgery.
“I don’t know if ‘concerned’ is the word; I think ‘disappointed’ is the word,” Gruden said. “He comes out and starts training camp, he’s in superb shape, he makes a great play and he gets a setback. Hopefully he comes back sooner than later. But ‘disappointed’ is the big word, I think.”
Conley suffered a minor groin strain in mandatory minicamp in June but was a full go in Friday’s opening camp practice, which was not in full pads.
On one play, after being beaten by a receiver who ran a comeback route, Conley recovered in time to reverse field and punch the ball out.
Heading into camp. Conley tweeted:
Praying for a healthy camp and a healthy season for me and all my brothas 💯 #raidernation #BIA #conleyisland #21 #tbc… https://t.co/bTP2BrgmiL
— Gareon Conley (@_gconley8) July 26, 2018
Conley was seen briefly during practice on Monday afternoon working on a side field with a trainer, doing resistance-band work. In his absence, Daryl Worley has been getting first-team snaps at right cornerback.
“His heart is broken,” Gruden said of Conley. “He’s put a lot into this and he knows he’s got to stay healthy to get out there for us, because we need him.”