On Thursday, former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley signed a two-year contract with the Oakland Raiders and not long after the ink dried, he was a guest on SiriusXM NFL Radio. During the interview, Woodley was asked about his recent injury history and how it ultimately led to the Steelers having to release him.
“It was out of my control, but in a way, I kind of put myself in that situation by being hurt,” said Woodley. “When you go out there and get hurt on the football field, you put yourself in those kind of situations.”
Now that he’s a member of the Raiders, Woodley said his primary job will be to rush the opposing the quarterback and that now he’s back playing in a 4-3 defense, he will likely have his hand in the dirt as opposed to standing up like he did as an outside linebacker with the Steelers. He also said he looks forward to not having to cover wide receivers, running backs and tight ends anymore.
In order for the Raiders to get their money’s worth out of Woodley, he has to stay healthy and on the field and he thinks he knows how to make sure that happens.
“It’s just getting the small muscles stronger,” said Woodley, who has missed 14 games over the course of the last three seasons because of various injuries. “I think that being that my legs are so big, sometimes, like, the front part of my body is stronger than the back end of my body and just getting those muscles back together.
“Last year I had the calf injury and the year before that, everybody was assuming it was my hamstrings, but actually I had a high ankle sprain and there’s really no way to avoid a 300-some pound man falling on your ankle.”
Prior to the Steelers releasing him, Woodley said the front office told him his future depended on what happened with fellow outside linebacker Jason Worilds.
“They said if they signed Jason Worilds back, they was going to let me go,” said Woodley. “If they didn’t sign him back, they was going to ask me to take a pay cut. So even when they put the transition tag on him (Worilds), I hadn’t heard anything from anybody and I found out pretty much that Monday I was going to be let go.”
