Jacoby Ford Injury: Raiders WR To Undergo Foot Surgery

Oakland Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford may be forced to miss most of the 2012 NFL season after undergoing surgery for an injury he suffered in the pre-season.

Ford, who is in his third season with Oakland after being drafted in 2010, hurt his left foot on August 17 in an exhibition game against the Arizona Cardinals.

According to ESPN, the 25-year-old Florida native missed six games with the same injury last season and now is dealing with the same problem again.

“It’s really basically the same injury that he had last year,” Raiders coach Dennis Allen explained to ESPN. “When he re-injured it this season there was nothing new structurally different from where it was last year. After visiting with the foot specialist in Carolina, everybody thought that given a little bit of time he could come back from it. After giving it some time and re-evaluating, everybody, the medical people, felt like that surgery was probably the best thing for him.”

Allen added that Ford — who has 44 receptions for 749 yards and three touchdowns in 24 games over two seasons — could potentially go on the new short-term injured reserve list and would hopefully be available to return later in the season.

In Ford’s absence, the Raiders passing game will fall on the shoulders of their four remaining (healthy) receivers which include rookie Rod Streater, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Derek Hagan and rookie Juron Criner.

ESPN notes that the team also hopes to get a boost at receiver spot this week with the expected return of deep-threat Denarius Moore.

Moore injured his hamstring in June and practiced Thursday for the first time since August 4.

“I’m very hopeful that Denarius will play this week,” Allen said of Sunday’s game at Miami.