Raiders Cross Halfway Point: Key Training Camp Notes

The Las Vegas Raiders have crossed the halfway point of their set of training camp practices. With their first preseason game just a week away, Las Vegas took the practice field again on Thursday. It was another day of solid work for Klint Kubiak's Raiders, who are still very much a work in progress.

Kubiak's Raiders have a more serious way of doing things. Time will tell how that translates on the field in 2026 and beyond, as the turnaround the Raiders seek is just getting started. Below are a few notes from Thursday's practice.

Las Vegas Needs More Work in Pads

The National Football League has rules on how often teams can practice and how physical those practices can be. The Raiders recently began practicing in pads, but Thursday's practice was not. The mental aspect of the game is just as important as the physical.

This is especially true for a Raiders team with so many new parts. Yet, they need more practice in pads. As in, they need it more than many other teams in the league do right now. It will be interesting to see how much the Raiders decide to play their starters in the preseason.

Bumps and Bruises

There have not been any notable injuries for the Raiders in training camp. They hope that continues throughout the season, as attrition has been one of their most significant issues. In camp, several players have taken a few bumps and bruises. It's football.

The interesting part is that a few players who have sustained physical setbacks are consistent. It is often the same handful of players walking off with medical staff. It will be worth watching throughout the rest of camp, the preseason, and the regular season.

Defense Is Pushing the Offense / Pressing Their Buttons

Every unit on every team needs work right now. Training camp is where teams begin shaking off the rust of the offseason. For as improved as the Raiders' offense appears to be at this point compared to last season, the unit is clearly still in the early stages of implementing sweeping changes.

The struggles Las Vegas' offense has experienced in camp have been noticeable, but not in a negative way. The Raiders look like an offense that is just now getting actual work on the field together while trying to implement a new offensive scheme, coaching staff, and new players.

In recent seasons, the Raiders have simply had limited offenses. The talent on the field was subpar. So far, Las Vegas' offense looks like a staff and roster still learning to work together, which is to be expected. They will feature new players at the most important offensive positions.

It must be noted that the Raiders' offense has had its moments so far in training camp, springing multiple big plays that would have been impossible for them a season ago. The unit has improved, but with the preseason right around the corner, Kubiak and his staff would likely prefer to be even further along.

"I think just our intentionality of what we're asking to get better at each day, and making sure that us as coaches we're demanding that, the players understand what we're looking for, being very intentional, being very deliberate and where we're asking to get better in each guy, whether it's individual, whether it's a position group or whether it's the whole offense,” Andrew Janocko said recently after training camp while explaining the coaching staff's mindset.

“Just being very deliberate and then being able to look back at those points that we set early in camp, those start to come to life in the later practices and the preseason games, and then once we get to the regular season."

It is also worth noting that a good amount of the frustrations the Raiders' offense is experiencing is being forced upon them by their teammates on the defensive side of the ball. Las Vegas' defense appears to have jumped leaps and bounds. At the very least, they are further along than the offense.

That is normal for this time of year, but the Raiders' defense has the potential to surprise some this offseason.

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