Oakland Raiders First-Round Pick DJ Hayden Out For Rest of OTAs With Abdominal Injury
By Josh Sanchez
The Oakland Raiders were very high on former Houston Cougars defensive back D.J. Hayden when they made him their first pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Hayden made a miraculous recovery after suffering a nearly fatal injury and he was happy to get back on the football field. Unfortunately for Hayden, his offseason work has been cut short and he will be forced to miss the remainder of OTAs with an abdominal injury.
The scary thing is that there appears to be some concern that Hayden’s injury may be related to his previous heart injury.
From Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Rookie CB D.J. Hayden out for rest of OTA’s with abdominal injury. Allen says too early to say if related to heart injury from last year
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) May 28, 2013
We certainly hope that the heart injury did not play a role in Hayden’s newest setback, but Raiders head coach Dennis Allen has said that Hayden is currently hospitalized.
It would be unfortunate to see a player who has worked so hard to return to football end up having his old injury come back to haunt him. If there is one thing we know about Hayden, it is that he will work hard to get back to 100 percent.
Hopefully the injury is minor and he can get back to the field as soon as possible.