Hopes of a quick return for Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford have been dashed once and for all.
Coach Dennis Allen announced Tuesday that Ford will have surgery on his injured foot that will keep him out for a “significant amount of time.” Ford has not practiced or played since the second preseason game, when he suffered another injury to the foot that kept him out of the final six games of the 2011 season.
“After visiting with the foot specialist in Carolina, everybody thought that given a little bit of time (Ford) could come back from it,” Allen said, via Matt Kawahara of the Sacramento Bee. “After giving it some time and re-evaluating, everybody, the medical people, felt like surgery was probably the best thing for him.”
The blow would be an easier one to suffer if Denarius Moore is able to get back on the field. Moore has been out with a hamstring injury, but started practicing last week before being declared inactive against San Diego on Monday night. Allen said he was “very hopeful” that Moore would be able to play this week.
Whether that amount of time is significant enough for Ford to wind up on either injured reserve list remains to be seen. The Raiders have just three healthy wideouts currently on the roster, so it seems likely they’ll think about adding a body at some point in the next few days.