The Las Vegas Raiders announced that they have placed rookie wide receiver Henry Ruggs III on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. While it is unclear if Ruggs contracted coronavirus, being placed on the list means that he will surely miss Thursday night’s Week 15 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Ruggs has been a bit of a disappointment this season after the Raiders drafted him 12th overall, the first wide receiver off the board, in 2020. In 11 games this season, Ruggs has 23 catches for 414 yards and two touchdowns.
Even when Ruggs isn’t catching passes though, the threat of him going deep add another layer to the Raiders’ offense that won’t be there on Thursday night. It hasn’t all been bad for Ruggs this season as he recently caught a game-winning touchdown on a Hail Mary type play to beat the New York Jets.
With Ruggs out of the lineup, Nelson Agholor and Bryan Edwards could both see their target share increase this week against the Chargers.
The Raiders also made some other roster moves, signing Vic Beasley from the practice squad to the active roster, signing a familiar face in Marcell Ateman to the practice squad and designating Takkarist McKinley to return from injured reserve.
It remains to be seen when McKinley will be able to make his Raiders debut, but he is now healthy enough to return to the practice field and the team has 21 days to add him to the active roster.
The Raiders’ pass rush has been non-existent in recent weeks, so they can really use a boost from McKinley and/or Beasley to finish out the season.
