Although Oakland Raiders safety Karl Joseph was able to secure the game-winning interception in the victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in week 10, it came with a heavy price after suffering a foot injury that has now ended his 2019 NFL season.
The Raiders made quite the investment in Joseph when they took him in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. While he struggled to find his footing in Oakland to start his career, he has played an integral part in their resurgence this year with 49 tackles, three pass breakups, and a crucial interception.
The timing of the injury was hardly ideal considering the secondary had just managed to put the cherry on top of a spectacular night against quarterback Philip Rivers to effectively put the Raiders in the playoff hunt. It is for this reason Joseph is disappointed he will have to watch the rest of the season play out from the sidelines.
Joseph admits the most discouraging part of the injury is that fact that everything was just starting to come together in Oakland, via Scott Bair of NBC Sports:
“I think, as a team, we really started to click. That’s especially true in the secondary,” Joseph, who formally placed on injured reserve, said Friday. “It wasn’t just me necessarily. I think I was playing good ball, but we were coming together. I really believe we started to play good football and I wanted to be part of it moving forward.
“We have a strong chance to go to the playoffs. That’s what is the frustrating part for me.”
Joseph added that the first night of coming to grips with the severity of the injury was the most difficult:
“The first night was pretty rough,” Joseph said. “I knew right away that something was wrong. I couldn’t even walk right afterwards. The next day I was rebounding. I was raised on strong faith. I’ve been through a lot of adversity in my life, so this is nothing new. I’ll be okay.”
Joseph’s frustration is certainly understandable given how he finally started to find his rhythm, however, it is still encouraging to see that he is optimistic about coming back stronger than ever. Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not it will be with the Raiders since they chose not to exercise his fifth-year option this offseason.
Regardless, Joseph’s absence deals yet another crucial blow to the secondary now that Lamarcus Joyner also expected to miss some time with a severe hamstring injury. The Raiders recently signed safety D.J. Swearinger to potentially help fill the void over the top.
