Raiders tight end Darren Waller, who was added to the injury report Saturday with an ankle issue, doesn’t “feel great” and Las Vegas is not expected to know until pregame warmups whether he can play Sunday against the Eagles, a source told ESPN.
Waller strained his inner ankle and heel during practice Friday, when he was tripped by a teammate, according to a source who saw the play. The Raiders considered the injury serious enough to list Waller as questionable for Sunday’s home game.
The absence of Waller would be a setback to a Raiders offense that rallied around interim head coach Rich Bisaccia during his NFL coaching debut last Sunday in Denver.
Without Waller, the Raiders would have to lean more on backup tight end Foster Moreau, who has four receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown this season.
The Raiders like Moreau and think he can be effective, but Waller has emerged as one of the league’s top offensive threats, a player that former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden called “the best player I’ve ever coached” earlier this year.
Waller, 29, has a team-leading 33 receptions for 378 yards and two touchdowns in six games this season, his fourth with the Raiders. He set a Raiders single-season franchise record last season with 107 catches.