Mario Edwards Jr. Returns to Practice

Oakland Raiders defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. has returned to practice.

In news that Raider Nation has anxiously been awaiting for weeks now, defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. has returned to practice.

An error occurred while retrieving the Tweet. It might have been deleted.

Edwards suffered a hip injury in the preseason, which initially was not considered to be serious. But as reports started to come out that Mario could miss significant time, it didn’t take long for the Raiders to place him on injured reserve.

With the run defense — and the defense in general — ailing and in serious need of reinforcements, Edwards would be exactly that. But expectations need to be tempered. With this much time off, there is sure to be some rust. And if a video that Mario posted is any evidence, he certainly needs some time to get back to full speed.

With that being said, it is fantastic news to have Edwards Jr. back at practice. After a few additional weeks of being a no-show, there was starting to be legitimate concern of whether or not he would even play this season. So now it looks like he will definitely return in the regular season, and the question now becomes when that is.

Ian Rapoport has an idea.

#Raiders are welcoming back to practice former 2nd round pick Mario Edwards, per @coachdelrio. They think he can play Dec. 18 vs. #Chargers

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 6, 2016

The Week 15 matchup with the Chargers sounds like a great time to comeback. The Raiders play the Chiefs this coming Thursday, December 8th, so there will be a 10-day gap before they have to play San Diego. Giving Mario plenty of practice time to get back into the swing of things.