Raiders rookie TE Foster Moreau lost to knee injury

ByPaul Gutierrez ESPN logo
Monday, December 9, 2019

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Oakland Raiders tight end Foster Moreau, who led all NFL rookies with five touchdown catches, was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered on an awkward sideline tackle in Sunday's 42-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans, Raiders coach Jon Gruden said in his weekly media conference on Monday.

"It's a big loss to our team, no doubt," Gruden said. "Knowing Foster, I don't believe it will be anything that will keep him out of next year but I'm not going to make any predictions. It's a tough injury, he's got a lot of rehab ahead and I can't compliment the job that he did enough. He came in here as a rookie and played good football for us and he's going to be a big part of the Raiders future."

Moreau, a fourth-round pick from LSU, had 21 catches for 174 yards. He was part of a promising Raiders rookie class bitten hard by the injury bug of late, with both running back Josh Jacobs and receiver Hunter Renfrow missing the Titans game with shoulder and ribs injuries, respectively. This after safety Johnathan Abram was lost for the season in the opener with a shoulder injury and cornerback Isaiah Johnson opened the season on injured reserve.

Gruden said he had no update on Jacobs' status and was asked why he might not simply shut down Jacobs, as well as right tackle Trent Brown, who was out against Tennessee with a pectoral injury, in advance of Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Raiders' final regular-season appearance at the Oakland Coliseum.

"We're going to try to win the game, absolutely," Gruden said. "We're never going to put a guy out there who can't play. But we're going into the last home game in the history of the Oakland Raiders, it's an emotional time, we're trying to win the game, we're not eliminated from the playoffs and we're going to try to win every single time we strap it on."