Podcast: Darren Waller eying return next week against Rams

Short week will make that tough but TE is hopeful

It’s been a tough season for Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller. Unfortunately, injuries have been the story of the 2022 campaign for Waller as a hamstring injury forced him to go on injured reserve and has held him out of the Raiders’ last seven games.

The Pro Bowl tight end is eligible to return next week against the Los Angeles Rams and, in a podcast interview set up by USAA, he told me he’s hoping to return for that matchup.

“My first game eligible back will be after [this coming] Sunday, so Monday I’ll be able to be activated,” Waller said on the Silver and Black Pride podcast. “It’s tricky because it’s a short week.

“…Whatever the coaches have planned. If they want to put some kind of thing together for me to be ready to play Thursday or if it’s ‘we want you to get a full week of practice before we put you out there for a game and you play the following week’. So, whatever the coaches’ plan and strategy is, I’m on board with and I’m just trying to take advantage of the time we have left in the season.”

Waller went on to say that this is a different injury from the one he suffered in training camp, and he’s been doing everything he can to get back on the practice field with his teammates and misses being out there. He also mentioned he’d love to help the Raiders make one last push for the playoffs while they still have a chance.

Waller also spoke about his partnership with USAA and the Wounded Warrior Project through the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats campaign. A video that includes images of his custom-made cleats can be found below.

Audio for the full interview can be found below where you can hear the tight end’s thoughts on becoming the highest-paid player at his position and on Derek Carr’s emotional press conference after the Colts game.

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