ALAMEDA — Gareon Conley never felt right when he returned from an offseason shin injury last year.
The Raiders’ 2017 first-rounder missed Week 1, played Weeks 2 and 3, then sat out the final 13 games of the season. Speaking to reporters for the first time since mid-September, he admitted that coming back so soon prolonged his recovery process and allowed the injury to waste his rookie season.
Conley feels like a second-year player mentally given everything he watched and absorbed, but physically he still feels like a rookie. The No. 24 overall pick in the 2017 draft figures to start at cornerback if he stays healthy, and if all goes smoothly Oakland might finally get the player they thought they added a year ago.