There is great news to report on Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr. today. It looks like he’s going to be okay after suffering what was said to be a “significant neck injury.” The injury caused Edwards to miss the last two games of the past season, and left many questions behind.
Is Edwards going to be stuck in a neck brace for the rest of his life?
Is Edwards going ever play football again?
Will Edwards be ready to play next season?
Will Edwards be ready for OTAs?
Well, from the looks of Edward Jr.s Instagram video, it’s no to the first question and yes to the rest. It’s basically a selfie video with him raising his head to look up and lowering it to look down. And the caption of the video read, “Oh yeah, minor setback for major comeback.”
That’s great for the Raiders because the 2nd-round pick was very disruptive leading up two the injury. He only had 2.5 sacks in 10 starts but his pressure from the interior set his teammates up. It’s no coincidence that star OLB Khalil Mack had 10 sacks in four game with him in the lineup and when he got hurt, Mack didn’t have a sack in the last two games.
Edwards will enter year two, the year that an NFL player makes his biggest jump in play, in September. So it’s going to be interesting to see what he does with Mack rushing the passer in 2016. And we can’t forget the Raiders will be getting OLB Aldon Smith back late in the year as well.
That could be scary for opposing quarterbacks!