Raiders to place Darren Waller, Hunter Renfrow on injured reserve

The Las Vegas Raiders are placing tight end Darren Waller and wide receiver Hunter Renfrow on injured reserve, per ESPN. 

Both players are expected to miss at least four games.

Waller has been dealing with a hamstring issue throughout the season, as well as multiple injuries over the past two years. He has missed eight of the team’s past 14 regular-season games, dating back to last year. 

This season has been particularly frustrating for Waller, who has managed just 16 catches for 175 yards and one touchdown. 

“It’s not like I’m doing anything to keep myself off the field willingly,” Waller said, via ESPN. “I’m doing everything that I can. It just may not be happening in the timetable I’d like for that to happen. So I’m just extending that grace and that patience to myself because I really am trying my best to be healthy and go about my processes and my routines like I have in the past.”

Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels stressed that there wouldn’t be a timetable for Waller’s return.

“It’s very difficult to predict some of these things,” he said. “Muscles and those kinds of things are always a little tricky, especially for a player that his No. 1 skill, or one of his certain top traits, is his ability to run and open up and go. There’s no timetable.”

Waller has been out since the Raiders’ Week 5 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs (he played just eight snaps in that affair) and was a limited participant in the team’s three practices this week. His last reception came in Week 4 vs. Denver, where he had three catches for 24 yards.

The seven-year veteran’s injury history is deep, and lower-body ailments have continued to plague him. In addition to missing six games last season, Waller was placed on IR in 2015 with another hamstring injury. He’s also been bothered by knee problems in recent years. 

Waller signed a three-year, $51 million deal with Las Vegas in September that made him the highest-paid TE in the league. He’s registered 286 receptions for 3,359 yards and 17 TD over 70 career games.

Renfrow, who signed a two-year, $32 million extension this past offseason, has injuries to both his ribs and hamstring. 

After hauling in a career-high 103 receptions for 1,038 yards and nine touchdowns last season, Renfrow has managed just 21 catches for 192 yards and zero scores this season. He has totaled 229 catches for 2,491 yards and 15 catches over 52 career games.