Tag: Richie Incognito

Raiders place LG Richie Incognito on injured reserve, sign RB Trey Ragas

Raiders place LG Richie Incognito on injured reserve, sign RB Trey Ragas

Facing an unexpected third straight week to begin the season without starting left guard Richie Incognito, the Raiders finally took the plunge and place the veteran guard on injured reserve.

Incognito has not practiced since August 19 at the team’s scrimmage with the LA Rams. The 38-year0old suffered a calf injury on the final offensive play of the scrimmage and limped gingerly off the field.

Head coach Jon Gruden initially held out hope Incognito would not miss a lot of time with the injury, even saying he hoped Incognito would be back at practice in time to take the field to start the season. Three weeks in, Incognito still has not practiced and the team made the decision to call it.

It’s possible Incognito could return as soon as three weeks should he be healthy enough. That would have him available for the stretch run.

In a corresponding move, the Raiders signed undrafted rookie RB Trey Ragas off the practice squad.

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Raiders, Dolphins final injury report: LG Richie Incognito to miss third week

Raiders will once again be without LG Richie Incognito when they face the Dolphins

“He’s getting better. He doesn’t say much, but we hope to have him on the practice field at the middle of next week when we get our revved-up preparation started.”

That was Jon Gruden on September 2 speaking of Richie Incognito, who hadn’t practiced since August 19 with a calf injury. It was still 11 days before the season opener against the Ravens, so Gruden was optimistic his veteran guard wouldn’t miss any games.

The Raiders are about to play their third game of the season. And not Richie Incognito has yet to practice and is officially ruled OUT again.

Others who are OUT are safeties Roderic Teamer (ankle) and Dallin Leavitt (concussion). Running back Josh Jacobs is Doubtful after not practicing for a second straight week.

The Dolphins are pretty healthy overall. Only QB Tua Tagovailoa will miss the game, all others were removed from the injury report. Tagovailoa’s absence has been known all week. He will be replaced by Jacoby Brissett.

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Raiders vs Ravens final injury report: G Richie Incognito OUT with calf injury

Raiders vs Ravens final injury report: G Richie Incognito OUT with calf injury

Jon Gruden has been hopeful left guard Richie Incognito would be ready to go for the Raiders’ season opener on Monday Night. He won’t be. The veteran guard has not practiced for three weeks and is now officially OUT for their game against the Ravens.

Replacing Incognito at left guard will be second-year man John Simpson who the team selected in the fourth round of the 2020 draft out of Clemson. Simpson will make his third career start.

Safety Roderic Teamer is doubtful for the game. He is primarily a special teams player which means his absence could explain why the team brought back Dallin Leavitt after waiving him last week. Leavitt will also be the backup at free safety behind rookie Tre’von Moehrig.

Along with several Ravens players who landed on injured reserve this week, they will also be without DE Derek Wolfe who is down with back and hip injuries. LB Daelin Hayes (knee) and CB Jimmy Smith (ankle) are Questionable.

Raiders, Ravens first injury report: LG Richie Incognito still not practicing

Raiders, Ravens first injury report: LG Richie Incognito still not practicing

You know the season has officially started when the first injury report comes out. That happened today as the Raiders took the field for the first day of the week’s preparation for the Ravens who they face in the opener on Monday Night Football.

The big-name missing from practice for the Raiders is starting guard, Richie Incognito. The veteran guard was injured during scrimmages with the Rams a couple of weeks ago, prior to their preseason game. Gruden said at that time that he was hopeful Incognito would be back by the opener. That remains the case.

“He’s getting better,” Gruden said of Incognito. “He did not practice today. We’ll see how he feels at the end of the week. We’re still hopeful that he’ll play. But he didn’t practice today.”

Also missing practice for the Raiders was safety Roderic Teamer.

The Ravens were without TE Nick Boyle and DE Derek Wolfe.

The big news, however, was the injuries to RB Gus Edwards and CB Marcus Peters who went down with what could be serious knee injuries. Edwards was stepping up for the injured JK Dobbins, which had the Ravens sign veteran free agent RB Devonta Freeman to the practice squad.

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Richie Incognito and Nicholas Morrow leave Raiders practice with injuries

A little over an hour into practice, at nearly the same moment, both Richie Incognito and Nicholas Morrow went down on the field. Morrow on the North field and Incognito on the South field. In both instances, it was the last snap of the session. …

A little over an hour into practice, at nearly the same moment, both Richie Incognito and Nicholas Morrow went down on the field. Morrow on the North field and Incognito on the South field. In both instances, it was the last snap of the session.

Morrow stayed down for a while, with teammates kneeling around him. They brought out a cart, just in case, but Morrow would ultimately get up and walk to the side, where he then worked with trainers.

Incognito walked off as well, though very slowly. He then made his way toward the team tent, heavily favoring his right leg and, again, moving very slowly.

Before either player could be assessed, the big fight broke out on the field during special teams sessions and practice was called off. It all happened so fast, there was little time to assess the severity of either injury.

“I think we’ll look into it, we’ll know something in the next couple of days, but I don’t have anything to report yet,” Jon Gruden said after practice.

Not that Incognito would have played in Saturday’s preseason game against the Rams, and perhaps not Morrow either, but their injuries should seal the deal on any chance they had of playing. The hope now will be that neither injury is serious enough to cause them to cost them regular season games.

Certainly it appeared serious enough to warrant close monitoring.

When Richie has missed time this training camp it has been second-year guard John Simpson who has stepped in for him. Morrow plays multiple linebacker spots, so the group would shuffle around if he can’t go. Javin White got the start in the first preseason game.

Others not practicing today due to injuries include RB Jalen Richard, WR John Brown, and LB Nick Kwiatkoski.

Defensive tackle Darius Stills returned to practice today sporting a club cast on his right hand.

Richie Incognito feeling generation gap on young Raiders team

Richie Incognito feeling generation gap on young Raiders team

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It was just a few months ago when the Raiders still had one of the highest-paid and most seasoned offensive lines in football. While much of the team seemed to be in a perennial state of rebuild, the offensive line seemed like the one steady, veteran group.

Then within a matter of days, it became one of the younger, more unproven lines in the league. That is, of course, with one glaring exception — 14-year veteran guard Richie Incognito.

The 38-year-old was cut and quickly brought back. But the team he returned to looks quite a bit different from the one he briefly left.

The primary new starters are center Andre James and rookie right tackle Alex Leatherwood. James in particular steps in next to Incognito where Rodney Hudson had lined up for several years as arguably the league’s top center. Hudson was traded to Arizona.

Not only is Incognito now being asked to step into the leadership void left by Hudson’s departure but he is also reminded more than ever before just how wide the gap is between where he is and where some of these young players are. It’s literally a generation difference.

“Not a lot of the guys that come in get it. About the grind, about the hunger,” Incognito said. “When I came in it was be quiet, get in the weight room, earn your reps, earn your spot. Now these guys come in and it’s Instagram, Twitter, and all this hype and ‘oh, I did this in college’ and they live off that. It takes them a year or two or three to learn what it takes to stick at this level and a lot of them don’t learn it until they’re out.

“That’s what I’m constantly on these guys about. You got to be hungry, every day, you got to grind, you got to want this with every ounce of you body and just put everything you have into it. I don’t feel too old out there. I’m getting up there, but I don’t feel too old.”

Incognito may not *feel* old in terms of his body, but there is a lot of ‘get off my lawn’ and ‘kids these days’ in his mindset.

“I think the biggest generational gap is the music. The music these guys listen to is terrible. It’s all the same ‘da duh da da duh da duh’ and it’s just…it’s nauseating,” Incognito said, shaking his head.

Incognito says this somewhat tongue in cheek — though no lies were told — and he noted that he is still single and likes to “hang with the boys” on the line.

A couple of times in this young camp, I have stood near the offensive linemen and just watched them work. More importantly, I listen to them talk. Incognito’s presence is considerable. There is lighthearted banter at times between drills where no one goes harder than Incognito does. Simply put, he lives for this.

“I love playing this game. I got a ton of passion playing this game. That’s why I’m this old and I’m playing. I love it, I love the grind, I love being here in camp, I love working, I love getting better, and now it’s our time. We got a young group, there’s going to be a lot of eyes on us, there’s going to be a lot of scrutiny, but it’s our time to shine.”

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Raiders OL John Simpson steps up at left guard as Richie Incognito doesn’t practice

John Simpson steps up at LG for Raiders with Richie Incognito missing practice

Day 2 of Raiders training camp commenced today missing one of its veteran starters. Left guard Richie Incognito was not on the field with the team Thursday after practicing in full on Day 1.

Stepping up with the first team at left guard was second-year guard John Simpson. The former Clemson Tiger was selected in the fourth round of the 2020 draft. He saw action in seven games as a rookie with two starts.

Incognito is by far the most veteran offensive lineman on this team. He would be the most veteran player on a lot of lines, but this team, in particular, has three new full-time starters, two of whom have a combined one start between them.

Adding Simpson to that group would make Denzelle Good and Kolton Miller the only veteran players on the first team.

There is some veteran competition on the interior in the form of Nick Martin. The former Texans’ starting center will be a utility reserve interior lineman, lining up at both center and guard.

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Raiders LG Richie Incognito hints that he does not want 2021 season to be his last

Raiders LG Richie Incognito hints that he does not want 2021 season to be his last

Even with Richie Incognito returning this season for the Raiders, it was basically assumed that this season would be his last. He’ll be 38 in July and is coming off a second consecutive season that was cut short by injury. The veteran guard has other plans.

“It’s one of those things where I didn’t want to go out with an injury,” Incognito said following Wednesday’s OTA practice. “I’ve had such a long career and I wanted to come back, kick (expletive) and play another couple of years for the Raiders.”

His 2020 season ended after two starts and the injury was feared to be serious. But when it was discovered that injury was merely a bone fragment that needed to be cleared, Incognito’s outlook changed.

“The injury was frustrating,” said Incognito. “But I knew from the start I was coming back. It was kind of up in the air exactly what I was dealing with, but once I went and had surgery and it wasn’t as major as we thought, I knew I was going to just grind and rehab and come back stronger. I had surgery in November and since November I’ve been locked in the gym just running, conditioning, lifting.”

By the time the start of the new league year rolled around, Incognito was released and re-signed in order to bring down his cap number. He is still locked in as the team’s starting left guard, even while everyone to his right on the line was traded away.

Whether Incognito is able to receive a new contract after this season, as he seems to hope, will depend on how he holds up this season. Not only in terms of how he is able to perform on the field, but whether he is able to stay on it.

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Ranking the top 25 players on Raiders roster: 11-15

Ranking the top 25 players on Raiders roster: 11-15

After revealing players 25-16 over the last two days, we head into the top 15 players on the Raiders roster:

15. LB Cory Littleton

Some people may be surprised to see Littleton ranked this high after the season he had in 2020. I don’t think it’s fair to write him off after one season. Consider the situation he found himself in. He joined a new team, with a complicated defense, in a year that had no offseason.

As a free agent, he was considered the best all-around linebacker on the market. I am not ready to let one down season erase that. I see a bounce-back year for Littleton with a full offseason in a more simplified system under new DC Gus Bradley.

14. OG Richie Incognito

At times Incognito looks just as dominant as he ever did. But he’s missed 18 games the past two seasons and is about to turn 38 in July. I don’t expect he will be at the level he was known for in 2017 and before when he was a durable Pro Bowl player, but he will be far from a liability on the line either.

13. WR Hunter Renfrow

Third-and-Renfrow is absolutely a thing. Defenses know Derek Carr will be looking for his reliable slot target on third down and yet Renfrow still manages to get open and move the chains.

He upped his game last season from his outstanding rookie season, catching seven more passes (56) for 51 more yards (656). He also did a solid bit of punt returning, averaging 11.5 yards per return on 23 returns.

12. DT Johnathan Hankins

Probably the most under-appreciated player on the Raiders’ defense. He’s started every game the past two seasons and appeared in every game since being signed early in the 2018 season. He clogs the middle and puts up tackle numbers you don’t normally see from a nose tackle, averaging 49 combined tackles the past two seasons.

11. G Denzelle Good

Good was seen as a quality reserve guard when the Raiders claimed him off waivers from the Colts in 2018. Last season he proved he was a whole lot more. A career guard, he stepped in at right tackle for a couple of games early in the season and then moved back to guard to replace the injured Incognito for the rest of the season. He made himself a must re-sign and a starter after the team traded away Gabe Jackson this offseason.

Continue on to rankings players 6-10

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Looks like Dion Dawkins wants Richie Incognito back on Bills

OL Dion Dawkins wants Buffalo Bills to pursue OL Richie Incognito.

Over the past few days, the Las Vegas Raiders started making some cap casualties in order to find some salary cap space in 2021. Plenty of teams are having to do so with next season’s cap being lowered.

A few of the Raiders’ recent moves focused on the offensive line, and included one familiar face: Richie Incognito. Along with guard Gabe Jackson, Incognito was released by the Raiders on Friday.

Does that mean back to Buffalo for Incognito? Bills offensive lineman Dion Dion Dawkins isn’t oppose to it.

On Saturday, Dawkins took to his social media account via Twitter. He sent out a tweet at Incognito:

Incognito returning to the Bills has two very complicated sides to the coin. Starting with Dawkins, it makes total sense.

As a rookie, Dawkins was surprisingly a training camp standout and ended up taking over as the Bills’ starting left tackle very quickly. The rest is history for the fan favorite. Next to him on the line in his first season was Incognito and Dawkins often praised him.

In addition, during this second tenure in Buffalo, Incognito had a situation unfold where an opponent said he used a racial slur on the field. Who leapt to his defense? Dawkins, who said “cut the BS.”

If we’re going to call ourselves objective at Bills Wire… Incognito, a Pro Bowler, is the best player Dawkins has ever had play next to him in his career. Of course he should want him back.

But then the flip side is the team. Does the Bills front office hold any grudges with him? Incognito has his fair share of off-field struggles in his NFL career… and one came via a surprise retirement in April 2018. He decided to up and leave Buffalo. That same offseason saw the Bills lose center Eric Wood to retirement as well, but his came because of surprise injury news. Incognito’s retirement came after Wood’s, so he really put the Bills in a bad spot. In 2018, Buffalo’s offensive line ended but being brutal because there was only so much the team could do.

As a player, Incognito, despite being 37, has actually played well in recent seasons since leaving the Bills. His 2020 Pro Football Focus grade was an 81.4 overall. That’s excellent and Raiders Wire also touted his skills.

However, in two seasons with the Raiders, he only played in 14 total games. Health was a concern.

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