Football is a game of inches. It’s also a game of feet.
Just ask Raiders coach Jon Gruden.
The Raiders traded for Antonio Brown, but he never played for the team after a soap-opera five months that included frostbitten feet in a cryotherapy chamber while the receiver was on vacation in France. They signed Tyrell Williams in free agency, and he was slowed by plantar fasciitis issues all season.
“We felt we added one of the best receivers in the league a year ago and he had frozen feet, and then we thought we had the best free agent receivers and he had fried feet from plantar fasciitis,” Gruden said Thursday, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN. “So, the feet were a problem for us last year so we would like to add a great receiver, certainly, but we still threw for a lot of yards.”
General Manager Mike Mayock admitted this week that the Raiders couldn’t fill the void left by Brown’s departure. The Raiders are expected to draft a wideout from a heavy crop of top prospects, and with Williams’ feet issues improving, the team should be better off at the position this season.
Of course, the question then becomes who will throw them the ball.
At the same time Gruden said he was “anxious to build around Derek Carr” came a report that the Raiders have had contact with Tom Brady’s representation.