Getty New Las Vegas Raiders WR Albert Wilson.
The Las Vegas Raiders are starting to get healthy just in time for their biggest game of the season so far. The team is traveling to Kansas City to face the Chiefs and is hoping to avoid going 1-4. Fortunately, wide receiver Hunter Renfrow appears ready to return to the football field as he’s been back at practice this week. He missed the previous two games with a concussion.
Even though Renfrow is set to return, the Raiders have decided to add more depth at wide receiver. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the team has signed veteran wide receiver Albert Wilson.
Raiders are signing veteran WR Albert Wilson, per sources. Wilson’s signing was confirmed by his agents, @DrewJRosenhaus and @RyanMatha.
Wilson is signing to the practice squad, per Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
FYI: The Albert Wilson signing with the @Raiders is to the practice squad.
The Wilson signing is interesting as he previously spent four seasons with the Chiefs and started 26 games for the team. However, that was before the Patrick Mahomes era as he left the team in 2017. He then went to the Miami Dolphins where he spent another four years. Wilson has good speed as he ran a 4.43 40-yard dash when he came into the NFL. He was most recently with the Minnesota Vikings but was cut during training camp. He’ll bring a solid veteran presence for the Raiders and has plenty of familiarity with how Andy Reid likes to call games.
Renfrow Talks Fumble Against Cardinals
Renfrow’s concussion came on the last play of the Week 2 game against the Arizona Cardinals. On the play, the Pro Bowler fumbled the ball and it was returned for a touchdown in overtime, which led to a loss. Renfrow has had to sit on the sidelines with no ability to redeem himself the last two weeks. Despite that, he’s not trying to forget what happened and wants to make sure he doesn’t fail the team again.
“I think it’s good to remember,” Renfrow said Thursday. “I don’t think you forget. Your successes and failures are things you carry with you and learn from. So l look at it as an opportunity. It’s not something I loved to have happened, but it’s going to teach me and drill me in practice to take care of the ball. Hopefully, it will win some games late in the season for us by doing things the right way.”
While Renfrow’s fumble played a big role in the team’s loss, his teammates weren’t holding it against him.
“I had tons of people come up to the locker room and say something like that has happened to them before,” Renfrow said. “So it gave me a chance to bond closer with them, as well. Negative things happen, but as long as you can find a positive in them, it’s not the worst thing in the world.”
Raiders Will Need Big Offensive Game on Monday
If Renfrow is indeed suiting up for Monday’s game against the Chiefs, it comes just in time. Even if Las Vegas had the best defense in the NFL, they’d need to score a lot of points to beat Kansas City. Through four games, the Chiefs are averaging 32.3 points a game, which is second-best in the league.
The Raiders’ offense was supposed to be high-powered this season but they’ve yet to put everything together yet. With a healthy Renfrow, Darren Waller and Davante Adams, the team needs to finally show what the offense is capable of.