Las Vegas Raiders are set to get a huge boost to one of the worst parts of their team after the bye week
The Las Vegas Raiders are set to get Lonnie Johnson back on both special teams and defense.
The Las Vegas Raiders are set to get a big boost on special teams, and maybe even in the secondary, as they come back from their bye week with safety Lonnie Johnson Jr. set to return to practice. Johnson is a tremendous special teams player; one could even call him an ace.
That’s also one of the worst units on the Raiders right now.
Johnson provides depth in the safety room, too. However, just because he is returning to practice doesn’t mean he will instantly be thrown back out there. Johnson must first get back into shape.
Pete Carroll has plans for Lonnie Johnson when he gets back
“His surgery’s coming up,” Carroll told reporters after Johnson sustained his injury. “We really miss Lonnie. I think we recognize Lonnie in a way that he hasn’t been recognized in the earlier parts of his career. With great respect to the variety of things that he adds to the team and all, we really are going to miss him.
“We had a number of things that we had specially that he could do well in contributing to the defense, and so we have to work a little bit to figure out how other guys can take those kinds of concepts and make them work for us. Lonnie’s in good spirits. He knows that it’s a good chance that it’s a minimal amount of time to get back. These five weeks are hugely important to him, so he can get back within 4-5 weeks into the season or whatever it is, and we’ll really enjoy it when he gets a chance to come back.”
Johnson finished 2024 with six special teams tackles on the Carolina Panthers, which is actually pretty good. Since 2019, he has had 24 special teams tackles, a solid number. To put that into perspective, Matthew Slater, the greatest special teams player in New England Patriots history, has 100 total special teams tackles.
Lonnie Johnson Jr.’s career stats
- Tackles: 173 (125 solo)
- Interceptions: 4
- Passes Defensed: 15
- Quarterback Hits: 3
- Tackles for Loss: 1
- Fumble Recoveries: 1
However, Slater played 3,612 snaps on special teams, to Johnson’s 1,199. Johnson hasn’t played every snap, or even the majority of snaps, most years. But when he’s on the field as a gunner, you better believe he is making some plays. The Raiders are hoping to get that special teams ace back.
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