Raiders Insider Provides Key Details About Christian Wilkins' Injury Status
The Las Vegas Raiders invested $110 million over the next four seasons in defensive tackle Christian Wilkins last offseason. Then-general manager Tom Telesco made the veteran defender a priority in free agency, but he only played five games in 2024.
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This offseason, Wilkins has yet to participate in the team's voluntary or mandatory workouts as he still recovers from the broken foot he suffered in Week 5, which kept him out for the remainder of last season.
Wilkins was recently spotted in a walking boot again, which caused Raider Nation to worry about his status both for training camp and the upcoming season.
Las Vegas Raiders DT Christian Wilkins (94).© Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
While there are no details yet about his updated recovery timeline, the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore provided key details about Wilkins' initial injury on Thursday's episode of the "Vegas Nation" podcast.
"So that [initial] injury, come to find out, he hurt himself earlier in the game and he played through it," Bonsignore said. "He played through it until they said, 'You got to come off the field. No more.'"
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Playing through an injury is not great for the long-term health of a player, but it appears that the Raiders stepped in before things got too much worse.
"He gets the surgery the very next day. Literally, the very next day, which is kind of unusual. ... Come to the end of the season, he was on target to come back,' Bonsignore said. "It was basically a clear path for him to be ready for OTAs, minicamp, all of those things.'
This news means that Wilkins must have suffered a setback along the way that kept him out of the Raiders' offseason program. Bonsignore confirmed this later in his statement.
'Obviously, he suffered a setback. ... The original injury was an 8-12 week injury recovery,' Bonsignore said. "He could have re-broken the original injury, or there's usually a screw that's inserted for this type of injury, that could have broken. In either case, it still remains an 8-12 week rehab.'
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While the details about when exactly the Raiders can expect him to return to the lineup are a bit murky, it is at least clear now how things unfolded the way that they did initially.
Related: AFC West Rival Listed as Destination for Raiders' Former No. 4 Overall Pick
Related: Brock Bowers Sends Strong Message on Raiders Rookie RB Ashton Jeanty
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
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