HENDERSON, Nev. — Las Vegas Raiders Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller has been downgraded to out for Sunday’s home game against the Washington Football Team after being listed as doubtful on Friday.
Waller, who set a franchise record with 107 catches last season, suffered injuries to his back and left knee in Las Vegas’ 36-33 overtime win at the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving and missed the second half of that game. He did not practice this week. His 53 catches for 643 yards rank second on the Raiders and his two TD catches are tied for third.
It will be the second game Waller will miss this season as an ankle injury kept him out of the Raiders’ Week 7 win against the Philadelphia Eagles. In that game, tight end Foster Moreau stepped up with six catches for 60 yards with an 18-yard touchdown.
“We’ve kind of gone through this twice,” Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia said Friday, before Waller was ruled out. “We’ve gone through it when we didn’t have him for a game and certainly Foster stepped up in the plan that [offensive coordinator] Greg [Olson] had put together.
“And then we lost Darren in the second quarter last week and we were still productive as the game went on and Greg made some really good adjustments that way as well, personnel-wise, in the things that we did. So, again, we are prepared to do that if we have to this week.”
A fourth-round pick of the Raiders in 2019 out of LSU who missed three games of his rookie season because of a torn ACL, Moreau has 10 touchdown catches in 40 career games. He has 12 catches for 135 yards and three TDs this season.
Moreau said he relished the opportunity to step in for Waller and also was asked about the coaching change at his alma mater. After a pair of lengthy pregnant pauses, Moreau said, “My mom always said, If you don’t have anything nice to say, you should probably just keep it to yourself. Yeah, I don’t know anything about Brian Kelly, truthfully, I know he’s a family-oriented man and I’m excited for the opportunity he has.
“Fit’s always important. Chemistry’s always important. The more you can be around people, the more you can understand where they come from. Obviously, Coach O [Ed Orgeron] knew just about every inch of Louisiana and anything in that soil and that was very meaningful to the state, obviously to the university, and he was not only an incredible coach but ambassador for football in southeast Louisiana.”