Johnathan Abram’s season may have come to an end very early, but that hasn’t stopped him from still trying to be productive. The rookie safety for the Oakland Raiders is still very active on social media and has recently been making the rounds in the media. Most notably, he appeared on Adam Lefkoe’s Bleacher Report show.
The premise of this episode of Lefkoe’s show was that he was going to have Abram disguise himself and random fans would come in to say negative things about the Raiders. Well, though he is young in his career with the team, Abram clearly already bleeds silver and black as he was not happy to hear what people were saying about his team.
He could only keep his composure for so long and badgered a few of the players. Abram’s already been a fan favorite since the premiere of Hard Knocks and this video will probably bring even more fans his way. The hard-hitting safety will have to wait until 2020 to further prove what he can do on the field, but there’s no doubt that Raider fans can’t wait.
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The Raiders Are Still Trying to Replace Abram
It’s been about a month since the Raiders learned they’d be losing Abram for the whole season, but they’ve yet to find a permanent replacement for him. They tried bringing in Juston Burris for a backup role. He never played a game before he was cut. They’ve tried out several other defensive backs, including Will Blackmon, but have decided on any of them. So far the team has run with Curtis Riley and Erik Harris as the starter at safety next to Karl Joseph. The team is unlikely to add a big name like Eric Berry anytime soon.
Abram Defends Vontaze Burfict
One of the bigger stories to hit Raider Nation is the suspension of Vontaze Burfict after the Week 4 game versus the Indianapolis Colts. Unless the linebacker wins his appeal, he’s going to be out for the rest of the 2019 season. Johnathan Abram was asked about his teammate on ESPN’s First Take and took the chance to defend him.
“I think they’re overdoing to,” said Abram about the NFL’s decision to suspend Burfict for the season. “I’ve been around Vontaze, going on, a couple of months now… That’s probably one of the best guys in the building. Everyone in the building loves him.
“He’s just playing the game the way he knows that it’s meant to be played.”
Burfict is going to have a hard time convincing the NFL to reduce his suspension considering they’ve found a second instance of an “illegal” hit during the Colts game. If the suspension is upheld, the Raiders will be without two of their top defensive players for the remainder of the season. Oakland has held up well without Burfict or Abram. They’re 2-2 without Abram and 1-0 without Burfict. There’s no doubt they’d like to have both of them on the roster, but the season isn’t lost without them.
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