Raiders' Koonce Recalls Devastating Injury

Koonce was coming off the best season of his career in 2023 and appeared to be ready to take the next step towards stardom, making the injury that much more heartbreaking to Koonce, his teammates, coaches, and Raider Nation. 

Koonce is back healthy on a one-year contract and ready to break out like expected in 2024. He joined Crosby on the latest episode of his podcast, The Rush, to recall what happened during that fateful September day. 

“Coming off of the season, it was the best season I had,” Koonce said. “In my head, I’m like, ‘Alright, I just have to stack this season.’ In my head, I’m like, ‘The only thing that can f— this up is me getting injured.’ So, I’m sitting there on the field like, ‘Don’t get injured, don’t get injured, don’t get injured.’ You just sit there and think about something so much, it’s just going to come to fruition.”

Koonce remembers exactly when and how it happened.

“It was that Thursday, it was the end of the practice. I think it was a walkthrough period, and then the practice ended. Blew out my knee. For me, it was just a feeling of – it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I can’t put myself in a better position,’ it was more like, ‘I’m letting people down.’ I knew [Antonio Pierce] was depending on me, you guys and the D-Line were depending on me, and the team in general. Obviously, our team was led by a lot of defensive guys. So, I just felt an overall feeling of letting people down.”

Koonce said that while his knee was torn, he could still run, jump, and cut. He wanted to play if he got the clearance. 

Now that Koonce and several other Raiders’ defensive line members are back healthy, they will anchor a defense that is looking for a bounce-back season. 

You can watch the full podcast episode with Koonce and Crosby here.

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