Las Vegas Raiders running back Kenyan Drake suffered a broken ankle in their 17-15 loss to the Washington Football Team on Sunday, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Drake will miss the rest of the season.
#Raiders RB Kenyan Drake suffered a broken ankle in today’s game, sources say, and he is out for the season. Drake, the team’s second-leading rusher, was ruled out quickly in the loss to the Washington Football Team.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 6, 2021
Drake went down midway through the second quarter at Allegiant Stadium when he was stuffed at the line of scrimmage after a handoff near midfield. As he went down, Drake’s right leg was caught by a Washington defender and could be seen bending awkwardly under the pile.
Drake lost the ball on the play, though the fumble call was eventually reversed and given back to the Raiders. He remained on the ground for some time, and was then carted off the field and into the locker room. He did not return.
Kenyan Drake being carted off the field a#with an apparent leg injury. #vegas#raiders#RaiderNationpic.twitter.com/193Dhv7T0w
— Mick Akers (@mickakers) December 5, 2021
Drake had just the one carry in the loss, and had one reception for eight yards. The 27-year-old has racked up 254 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 62 attempts in Las Vegas. He’s in the first year of a two-year, $11 million deal.
Later on Sunday night, Drake took to Twitter and actually shared a graphic angle of his injury — which directly showed his right ankle being crushed under Washington defensive tackle Daron Payne.
Drake said that this isn’t the first time he’s felt his legs have been “rolled up on” from behind by a defender, something he believes needs to be outlawed in the NFL. Seeing such a big emphasis on taunting this season instead of something like this, he said, doesn’t make sense to him.
“The NFL needs to look at this specific style of tackling,” he wrote. “They are throwing flags for taunting and protecting QBs from getting touched but this is my second straight season being injured by a guy pulling me back and using his body weight to roll up on my legs.
“If the emphasis is to protect the players, this should be an illegal form of tackling like a horse collar. We lose players weekly to high ankle sprains and broken bones but the league would rather flag players for erroneous taunting penalties. Let’s get the priorities together."
