Getty Las Vegas Raiders WR Henry Ruggs.
A rumor started to circulate on Sunday night that Las Vegas Raiders first-round pick Henry Ruggs was involved in an accident that left him injured. More details have begun to emerge and it appears he hurt himself while helping a friend move. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the incoming rookie suffered a cut but will be okay.
Based on the reports coming out, it sounds like it was an accident and the Raiders can breathe a sigh of relief that the injury doesn’t appear to be too serious.
Raiders Address Injury Rumors
First of all, it’s great news that Ruggs will reportedly be okay. If the rumors of him getting pinned between a trailer and a truck are true, things could’ve been a lot worse. On the football side of things, Ruggs missing significant time with an injury would’ve been an unmitigated disaster. The team addressed the rumors.
“The Raiders are aware of a report regarding an off-field injury to Henry Ruggs III,” the team said, per Vic Tafur. “Respecting Henry’s right to medical privacy, the team will not be commenting on the report.”
The Raiders put the ball in Ruggs’ court to address the accident and it wouldn’t be surprising if he issued a statement soon. The team invested a lot in Ruggs. They passed on Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb in order to make him the first wide receiver selected in the draft. The Raiders need him and he’s going to have to be more careful going forward.
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Luckily, This Doesn’t Sound Like an Antonio Brown Repeat
The Raiders are all too familiar with off-the-field injuries to their star wide receivers. Last offseason, Antonio Brown froze his feet off shortly before training camp which caused a lot of issues. Fortunately, it sounds like whatever happened to Ruggs shouldn’t cause him to miss a lot of time. Considering there won’t be OTAs this offseason, he has plenty of time to get healthy before training camp.
There’s no indication that Ruggs shouldn’t be trusted off-the-field. He’s a very high character player and didn’t get in trouble at Alabama.
Ruggs’ Father Addresses What Happened
While Ruggs himself hasn’t addressed the reports yet, his father shed some light on what exactly happened.
“He was trying to move a trailer or something — move furniture or something — and the trailer just kind of pinned him against a car or a wall or something,” Ruggs said, per AL.com. “He’s pretty much OK, I’m about to go out there and see him in a little bit. It was just like a little open wound on his leg, a little incision. Like something had stuck him right there on his thigh a little bit.”
The wide receiver did try to go to the hospital but didn’t have much luck.
“With this COVID-19 stuff still going on, they wouldn’t let anybody in,” Ruggs said. “He’s just having to walk on crutches. Not putting as much pressure on it.”
If the hospital isn’t accepting him right now, that should mean that the injury isn’t very serious.
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