Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford will undergo surgery Tuesday afternoon in North Carolina on his injured left foot and will miss a “significant” amount of time, coach Dennis Allen said during his weekly press conference.
Ford was injured Aug. 17 in a preseason game at Arizona. Last year, he missed six games with a sprained left foot. According to Allen, doctors initially thought he could recover with rest and rehabilitation and avoid surgery.
“It’s really basically the same injury that he had last year,” Allen said. “When he re-injured it this season there was nothing new structurally different from where it was last year.
"After visiting with the foot specialist in Carolina, everybody thought that given a little bit of time he could come back from it. (But) after giving it some time and re-evaluating, everybody -- the medical people -- felt like that surgery was probably the best thing for him.”
In addition to being a reserve wide receiver, Ford is the Raiders' No. 1 kick and punt returner. He has returned four kickoffs for touchdowns, a franchise record. Backup kick returner Taiwan Jones muffed the opening kickoff Monday night against San Diego and didn’t attempt to return any of the other six kickoffs.
The Raiders were also without injured starting wide receiver Denarius Moore (hamstring) for the opener against San Diego. He practiced Thursday for the first time since Aug. 4.
“I’m very hopeful that Denarius will play this week,” Allen said of Sunday’s game at Miami.
Allen said Ford could potentially go on the new short-term injured reserve list and be available to return later in the season.
The Raiders have five receivers, besides Ford, on their roster: Moore, rookie Rod Streater, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Derek Hagan and rookie Juron Criner.
Allen was asked if he’d consider signing free agent wide receiver Chad Johnson, a former teammate of Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer in Cincinnati.
“I wouldn’t specify him specifically as there’s interest there,” Allen said. “Like I’ve told you guys before, we’re going to look at everybody that’s available, and if we feel like there’s somebody that can help us, give us a chance to be better and help this team win, then we’re going to do that. If he fits that category then I wouldn’t rule anything out.”
Follow Raiders reporter Eric Gilmore on Twitter: @CBSRaiders.
