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Raiders rookie D.J. Hayden released from hospital

Oakland Raiders first-round draft pick D.J. Hayden has been released from the hospital.
(Tony Avelar / Associated Press)
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Oakland Raiders cornerback D.J. Hayden has been released from a Bay Area hospital and is resting comfortably at home, according to a team spokesman.

Hayden, the No. 12 pick in last month’s draft, was admitted to the hospital late last week and underwent surgery to remove scar tissue in his abdomen.

Last November, while at the University of Houston, he suffered a freak, life-threatening injury on the practice field. He collided with a teammate and sustained a ruptured inferior vena cava, a large vein that carries blood from the lower body back up to the heart.

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Despite long odds of survival, he was able to return to football and was drafted in the first round.

The Raiders said the latest complication was not related to his heart or that vein, but the scar tissue that had formed as a result of the major surgery he underwent.

The Raiders expect Hayden to be ready for the start of training camp in late July, but Hayden’s college physician, Dr. Walter Howe, told The Times that with this type of scar tissue removal, the recovery is typically six weeks at a minimum. That schedule would have him missing the first week of training camp.

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