Donald Penn played six snaps in Sunday night's primetime clash with the Dallas Cowboys before leaving the game due to a foot injury.
Monday afternoon, Head Coach Jack Del Rio announced that those six snaps will be Penn's final ones of 2017, as the veteran left tackle will miss the remainder of the regular season.
"It is true that Donald Penn will have surgery Wednesday, and will be out the remainder of the year," said Head Coach Del Rio. "That is an accurate story that I think was already out there. "
When the Raiders travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles Christmas night on Monday Night Football, it will be the first regular game since 2007 that Penn will have missed, snapping an impressive streak of 170 consecutive starts.
Without No. 72 protecting Derek Carr's blindside, Del Rio and Offensive Line Coach Mike Tice will have a multitude of options to work with along the offensive front.
They could go back to the lineup that finished Sunday night's game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, with Marshall Newhouse taking Penn's place, and second-year lineman Vadal Alexander entering on the right side, combined with the usual interior lineup of Kelechi Osemele, Rodney Hudson, and Gabe Jackson.
Another player to keep an eye on Monday night? Rookie tackle David Sharpe, who Coach Del Rio said he would like to see a little bit at left tackle.
"We'll see how the week goes, but that's why he [Sharpe] is here, and then, obviously, the way we finished the game the other night is an option," Del Rio explained. "We have some work to do through the week of practice. We'll see how guys prepare, and how they work, and Coach Tice, obviously, and I will talk about that, and [Offensive Coordinator] Todd [Downing], and kind of work through it, and make the decision that's best for us."
Since arriving in Oakland, Penn has made 62 starts, earning Pro Bowl honors in 2016.
