Raiders TE Michael Mayer Reflects on Rookie Season

Second-year Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer analyzed his rookie season and is ready to move forward.

Nov 12, 2023; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer (87) scores a touchdown against the New York Jets in the fourth quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports / Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

The Las Vegas Raiders traded up in the second round of last year’s NFL Draft to draft tight end Michael Mayer. However, the Raiders’ offense struggled to do much of anything in the first half of the season.

As a rookie, Mayer was often not featured in the Raiders’ offense as much as many expected when he was drafted.

Mayer told reporters on Tuesday that he’s had a chance to analyze his rookie season and has learned from it. He is looking forward to taking things up a notch this upcoming season.

"Yeah, my mentality, my attitude this year -- nothing wrong with last year, but it's just different this year, it's different,” Mayer said. “I'm way happier. I'm way more positive. I love to be out here on this field. I love to play football, man. I mean, it's what I do. It's my job, like you said. So, I've definitely flipped the script a little bit. 

Mayer said he spent the first half of his rookie season learning what was a difficult offense.

"I was working on some drills number one, but I think number two it's more of understanding the offense too,” he said. “I remember a quote from Gronk [Rob Gronkowski] like he's kind of got that offense midway through the season. I mean, I totally fully understood that offense, probably by Game 8.

“So, it was it was pretty complicated. It was a hard year, but I feel like my coach last year, Coach [Jerry] Schuplinski, we did a really good job of some sort of drill work in terms of blocking, keeping my feet under, not having my head over my feet, striking, things like that. The process throughout that just, I got better throughout it." 

With his rookie season behind him, Mayer is ready for a productive second season in the league.

“Last year, maybe there were some days I didn't want to come in, or something was going on like I flipped the script," Mayer said. "It's time to dig down and play some ball, win some ball games, and do what I need to do for this team. Rookie year is over. That's way in the past. I've already reflected on it. I've already put it behind me. I don't even think about it anymore."

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