How Being Injured Helped Raiders' Koonce Learn

Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce’s season-ending knee injury was devastating for him, his teammates, coaches, and Raider Nation.

The Raiders were banking on Koonce taking the next step to stardom in 2024 after a breakout campaign the season before. That dream ended before the season started.

But for Koonce, that injury may have been a blessing in disguise. He spent the entire season watching and seeing the game of football from a new perspective.

Koonce will now use his experience from the past year to make him a better player on the field. He joined teammate Maxx Crosby on the latest episode of his podcast, The Rush, to recall his 2024.

“I feel like the beginning was hard,” he said. “In the first half of the season, you’re like, ‘I should be out there. I should be playing.’ But you’re injured, so you can’t really do anything. Once you slowly get over that, then it’s like, ‘Oh, I appreciate seeing it from a different perspective than I would have seen.”

Koonce’s injury opened the door for other players to earn playing time. That also taught him several lessons.

“Or, you have guys like [Charles Snowden] in the room; you get to see him rush. [K’Lavon Chaisson] when he was here. It was enjoyable to watch him rush. So, it’s just little things like that. Or, I know we have the Broncos coming up; I rush whatever tackle. Let me go talk to Tyree [Wilson] and let him know that this is when I rushed him, and I had this sack on him. This would work. And then, being able to see it work in the games. So, it was kind of cool in that sense.”

The Raiders will be better for having Koonce back on the field in 2025. The season’s outlook could have been much different had he not gotten injured.

Sometimes, seeing the game from a new lens can be helpful. With Koonce sidelined, he allowed other players to thrive, and he could help them in a de facto coaching role.

But now, no more coaching for Koonce. He will play in a football game for the first time since January 2024.

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

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