One of Raiders' Primary Focuses Heading Into Training Camp

Up until this point, the Las Vegas Raiders have had an eventful offseason. Las Vegas has made good use of its time off by adding talent at every turn. The Raiders needed a big offseason, and they have had one. Still, it will take more than impressive offseason signings to turn things around.

The Raiders have taken the beginning steps of their rebuild, revamping their front office last season. Then, Las Vegas nearly completely replaced its coaching staff and got to work fixing its roster. The Raiders have been productive at every point of this offseason.

Still, even with the big swings the Raiders have taken this offseason, they have been careful to take things one step at a time. Las Vegas made it through their rookie minicamp, the Organized Team Activities, and, most recently, mandatory minicamp. The hard part comes next.

The Raiders Are Ready

The Raiders are in the middle of their last few weeks of downtown before a long and busy 17-game season. The dog days of summer are here, but for most teams around the league, the next few weeks are essentially the calm before the storm. Las Vegas, though, is ready for the rubber to meet the road.

After hiring Klint Kubiak as their head coach, it seems as if the moves the Raiders made this offseason came quickly and in a hurry. Training camp is approaching just as quickly, marking another critical part of Las Vegas' offseason.

Las Vegas' coaching issues over the past few seasons mean that arguably the most significant step the Raiders took this season was adding Kubiak. They are relying on him, his coaching staff, and the many roster additions made to make tangible progress this season.

Las Vegas' Next Step

Their long-term plans will take more time, but the Raiders have done all they can in one offseason to make the progress they are hoping for in the near future. Las Vegas has made it through the first half of the offseason, with training camp just around the corner.

However, before they can get to training camp, they will take time away before returning in late June. Kubiak recently explained what he is looking forward to over the next few weeks, as he approaches his first training camp and regular season as a head coach in the National Football League.

"I'm just looking forward to going home, being a dad, and being around my kids, my wife, and my family, and rejuvenating that way. It's really important for myself, for our whole staff, for our players to go recharge,” Kubiak said following mandatory minicamp.

“I don't want our guys to get burnt out. I want our guys to be excited to come to work when training camp starts. So, I'm not going to talk to a lot of them for a month, but as coaches, we've got to focus up on some things, get them detailed for camp, but it's really important for the mental health of the whole team that we get away and go be with our families.”

The Raiders had a solid set of offseason workouts through this point. It is clear that Las Vegas has improved. However, football is played in football pads, and the Raiders have not put those on yet.

As productive as they have been this offseason and as improved as they appear to be, Kubiak has stressed to the players that an unproductive few weeks away can undo the progress they have made thus far.

“You can ruin an offseason with 40 days away. You put all that work in this time of year, if you go post up on the couch, all that work is for naught. So, 40 days away, you got to be really self-motivated, and we're not going to be with them every day, but we'll be in contact with them,” Kubiak said.

“Then that's where, to me, that Mr. [John] Spytek, his job comes into play, because he brought in a lot of quality individuals that are self-motivated. If you don't have self-motivated guys, you have no idea what's coming once they come into training camp. So, I feel really confident that we have a self-motivated group."

Las Vegas' front office has done its best to put the coaching staff and the players in a position to succeed. The Raiders' new-look coaching staff has spent the past few weeks putting in the work on the field to build a more competitive team. Still, the next few weeks are vital.

As with every other step the Raiders have taken this offseason, Las Vegas' front office and coaching staff have a plan in place. Las Vegas' plans have been detailed thus far and appear to be moving forward. The Raiders have not only a plan for training camp, but for their time away.

“I think it's our job as coaches to set expectations and to give a detailed plan and to see the players execute it and not walking past a mistake. If it's not done right, do it again until you get it right," Kubiak said.

"On Sunday, everybody's jobs are on the line, and we're counting on everybody, coaches and players. So, it's just important that we're all held accountable. We know what the standard is, and we go execute the plan.”

Training camp is fast approaching for a Raiders team eager to move on from a challenging past couple of seasons. Las Vegas has not had many things go its way recently, but it has finally begun to make the types of moves that should help change that going forward.

As the Raiders prepare to take another step in the early stages of Kubiak's tenure, they must continue to stick to the plan they have been following this offseason. Although the details of that plan remain largely a mystery to those outside of the organization, it appears, so far, to be a good one.

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