As recently as last week, Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson was asked about receiver Martavis Bryant and said: “We still think he has tremendous skills.”
The Raiders, though, won’t see Bryant’s abilities in their offense again this season.
The Raiders placed Bryant on injured reserve Wednesday due to a posterior cruciate ligament knee injury he sustained in Week 10 against the Chargers.
Bryant’s season ends after eight games in which he had 19 catches for 266 yards and no touchdowns. Those likely weren’t the returns that the Raiders envisioned when they dealt a third-round pick to the Steelers for the 26-year-old receiver in April.
Head coach Jon Gruden had expressed tepid hope for Bryant’s return this season on Monday, saying plays designed for Bryant were “getting stale in my office.”
But Bryant’s availability was an issue going back to training camp. Gruden nicknamed Bryant “the white tiger” after he missed several practices due to headaches, and the Raiders actually waived Bryant from their initial 53-man roster before re-signing him in Week 2.
Coming from Pittsburgh, where he caught eight touchdowns as a rookie in 2014 but was also suspended twice for violating NFL substance abuse policies, Bryant was seen as a downfield threat for the Raiders’ passing game. But he eclipsed 30 receiving yards in just two games.
Quarterback Derek Carr maintained Wednesday there’s “a lot of potential there” with Bryant, whose contract expires after this season.
“He definitely has something that a lot of people don’t have,” Carr said. “I think we’ve all seen that, especially in camp, hitting him on some deep balls. … There’s so much there that you just want to un-tap. Hopefully we’ll get to do that for a lot of years together.”
Roster moves: Along with Bryant, the Raiders placed safety Reggie Nelson and defensive end Shilique Calhoun on injured reserve Wednesday.
Nelson, 35, started seven of the Raiders’ first eight games but saw his playing time decrease in the last four weeks. He totaled 29 tackles and two interceptions in 11 games this season. Calhoun, a third-round pick in 2016, had 12 tackles in seven games.
As corresponding moves, the Raiders signed running back C.J. Anderson, cornerback Bene Benwikere and defensive end Kony Ealy. Benwikere, 27, played in 11 games with the Cardinals this season before being released Nov. 26, recording 51 tackles, four passes defensed and one interception. Ealy spent one game with the Raiders this season and was inactive.
Penn practicing: Pro Bowl tackle Donald Penn returned to practice on Wednesday, starting a three-week window for the Raiders to either activate Penn from IR or shut him down for the season.
Penn, 35, suffered a groin injury in Week 4 against the Browns. Gruden said Monday that while Penn could return to practice: “I don’t know that we’ll see him this year” in a game.