It was a year ago the last time we saw Johnathan Abram take an NFL field. And he didn’t even get through a quarter of football before he was injured. For any young NFL player, that would be a long wait to take the field again. For Abram is was downright agonizing.
“It felt great to be back out there today with my guys,” Abram said after the game, seeming to downplay his return.
Early on, the first thing you noticed about Abram was he was still sporting the loose sleeves which he had tried out in camp. It was a nod to legendary Raiders DB Willie Brown, with whom he shares a number.
There is probably no number on any team that belongs to two more legendary players than the Raiders and the number 24. Along with Brown, it was also Charles Woodson’s number.
It’s fitting considering Abram had 13 tackles which were the most by a Raiders’ defensive back since Woodson had 14 tackles in November of 2014.
While he was on the field racking up the tackles, the players on the offense were marveling from the sideline.
“What did he have like 14 tackles or something crazy like that today?” said Josh Jacobs. “If you just see the way he flies around and the way he brings that juice to that defense, it’s electric. I mean, I just catch myself watching him like a fan honestly. I’m definitely happy to have him back.”
Abram was glad the Raiders were able to pull out the win, but overall he wasn’t happy with the play of the defense which gave up 30 points and lost the lead late in the game
“Today was a very sloppy performance on the defense’s part,” Abram continued. “We gotta go out and execute a lot more than we did. We gave a few big plays and if you give up big plays in this league, that’s kind of how you get beat. We were fortunate enough come about with the W today.”
This day was more than just a W for the team. It was a W for Abram who, for the first time, comes out of an NFL game with his health.
“The most exciting thing for John is that he gets to play in week two,” said Derek Carr. “He’s still here, man, and he’s healthy as we all are. But the energy he brings with those hits, we saw some of them on McCaffrey and some across the middle, him and Erik, it’s just the tone, you know? And in this day and age where we’re not going to have fans this year, and you’re on the road, you gotta bring your own energy. You gotta bring your own juice, and he’s that type of player that can bring the energy and bring the juice and those things can’t be overlooked. You get a big hit…I remember I was going over the last series on the Ipad and I just heard WOP! And I looked up and sure enough, there’s 24 hitting 22 and that stuff ignites a sideline for sure.”
This was the type of performance fans expected from Abram after his rookie camp. He played well in his debut despite his shoulder injury, but his injury left no time to celebrate. This time we can look forward to seeing more days like this in the future.
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