Raiders place OL Richie Incognito on injured reserve

The Las Vegas Raiders placed starting left guard Richie Incognito on injured reserve with an Achilles injury, the latest injury to their offensive line.

Incognito left Monday night’s 34-24 win over New Orleans in the first quarter with the injury that slowed him in practice the previous week. The Raiders then decided Wednesday to shut him down for at least three games on injured reserve. Incognito will be eligible to return for the home game Oct. 25 against Tampa Bay after missing games against New England, Buffalo and Kansas City.

The Raiders signed Incognito in May 2019 after he sat out the previous season and dealt with several off-field legal issues. He was suspended for the first two games in 2019 but was one of the team’s better players after that and earned a two-year, $12.7 million extension.

Fourth-round rookie John Simpson stepped in for Incognito Monday and the Raiders offense didn’t miss a beat, scoring four touchdowns and two field goals on seven drives with Simpson in the game. Simpson had struggled in practice last Wednesday before performing solidly in the game.

“He did pretty good. It’s a credit to him,” coach Jon Gruden said. “He learned some valuable lessons. He got thrust into a real tough situation. (David) Onyemata, (Sheldon) Rankins, those are two of the best interior players in the game. He did OK in there. He handled a lot of situations very well. I give Rodney Hudson and Kolton Miller a lot of credit for playing really good next to him. But it was a good start for John Simpson.”

The Raiders have been dealing with injuries on the line early this season. Starting right tackle Trent Brown left the season opener after one drive with a calf injury and hasn’t played or practiced since.

Backup Sam Young injured his groin later in the first half of the opener against Carolina and backup guard Denzelle Good has filled in capably since then.

The Raiders only held a walkthrough Wednesday before this week’s game at New England but said Young would have been limited and Good would not have been able to practice because of a thumb injury and illness.

Linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski also remains sidelined by a pectoral injury, while running back Josh Jacobs (hip), tight end Darren Waller (knee) and defensive end Carl Nassib (illness) all would not have been able to practice Wednesday.

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