Report: Oakland Raiders placing D.J. Hayden on PUP list
By Dan Zinski
The worst fears of the Oakland Raiders have been realized regarding CB D.J. Hayden. The 2013 first round pick has been unable to practice or play this preseason due to a foot injury, and now the Raiders have been forced to place Hayden on the Physically Unable to Perform list.
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Placing Hayden on PUP means he won’t be able to play for the first six weeks of the season. It was originally reported that the Raiders would wait until Saturday to make the call on Hayden, I guess in hopes that the injury he’s been dealing with for weeks would miraculously clear up, but they decided to go ahead and PUP the cornerback now.
Coach Dennis Allen said Monday that Hayden was looking better, but I guess he wasn’t looking enough better to keep him from being shut down.
The 12th overall pick in the 2013 draft, Hayden struggled at times in his rookie season but there were high hopes in Oakland that he would develop in his second year and become the top defensive back they believed he would be when they made him a first round pick.
Obviously this sets Hayden back a lot. Missing an entire camp plus six weeks of the season is not conducive to development in a cornerback.
The Raiders will go with veterans Carlos Rogers and Tarell Brown at cornerback with Hayden on the shelf. It’s too early to call Hayden a bust, but if he can’t get on the field, the conversation will start trending in that direction.
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