Full Raiders Training Camp Report Week Two

HENDERSON, Nev.—The Las Vegas Raiders are ending their second week of training camp and have joint practices and their first preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers next week.

Here are some quick takes from today’s practice, and tomorrow we will have an entire camp update episode of our Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast.

· Jimmy Garoppolo has, at times, looked sharp in practice.

· He has shown a successful deep ball and command with his first read, which is what Josh McDaniels is looking for in 2023.

· The problem has come when he has had to move to his second or even third receiver. He threw four interceptions on Friday and three on Saturday.

· That is certainly something to keep a close eye on, but with him having been off as long as he was, and none of it coming against another team (like it will next week) I don’t see it as a time to panic.

· Concern? For sure, but not panic.

· We will learn A LOT about this team in the next two weeks.

Get more inside camp information when you watch my latest podcast on training camp:

· In the games, we will see players emerging, but in the joint practices, we will see more about the veterans such as Garoppolo.

· What I think is being lost in the quarterback panic (and I understand it) is that Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler knew, even before last season, that this team didn’t have what it needed on the defensive side of the ball to make a sudden-impact, sudden momentum-shifting plays.

· They knew this defense needed to attack, and it just couldn’t be Maxx Crosby.

· It was crucial for them to get a defensive backfield quarterback who could ensure the guys were in the right spot. They needed that on-field coach and were glad to add Marcus Epps.

· Epps’s presence has been tremendous so far in camp. He isn’t going to get you eight interceptions himself. Still, his ability to get guys in the right spot, his devotion to film and instinctively seeing things, and thus moving players, has paid off this camp with so many interceptions.

· I asked Josh McDaniels specifically about Epps, his quarterbacking of the defensive backfield, and how he is getting guys in the right position to make plays. “I think Marcus does a tremendous job of communicating," McDaniels said. "He's a very mature player, he loves football. The conversation is almost always about football, whether we're at practice, in the building, eating lunch. It doesn't matter what it is, Marcus is really all in. I think he's rubbed off on some of his teammates. I see Tre'von [Moehrig], and him, they're kind of like a pair walking through the building. And I think for guys that play together in the secondary back there at safety, I think that's a really good thing. So, I think our guys are really embracing what we're doing. And again, that secondary as a whole, I'd include the linebacker group in there; if you know what you're going to do on every play, you know your job, you know where your teammates are going to be, it allows you to be more aggressive and play faster and I think we're starting to see some of that."

· For example, this week, Amik Robertson had an incredible interception. What wasn’t seen was Epps adjusting with him pre-snap.

· They wanted more intensity and availability from the middle linebacker spot and signed Robert Spillane.

· He, like Epps, is a football savant and watches so much film. He is instinctive and has moved linebackers and defensive linemen with ease.

· The pass rush has been highly effective because of his ability to read and react.

· It is one thing for a player to pick up and read an offense; it is another when he can do it so fast he can tell others who can’t what is happening.

· I asked McDaniels about that added edge the 2023 Raiders have with football junkies like Maxx Crosby, Marcus Peters, and Marcus Epps are bringing to this team. “I think one thing that they do is they rub off on some of the young guys that we've drafted," McDaniels said. "Because when you draft players, they come into your building, and they really don't have an understanding of what the NFL is like other than what they see. And so, their interpretation of what NFL football is like is watching [Maxx] Crosby show up at 5:30 in the morning and watching [Davante] Adams compete. And you mentioned a number of other guys and I think that's a great way to kind of build your overall identity as an organization, is you put some guys in those positions of leadership. They do their job the right way, they embrace the grind of football year-round and do the right things, and hopefully you have a team full of them at some point.”

· Jakorian Bennett, the rookie out of Maryland, has been outstanding. I have previously reported about him grabbing extra reps and going one-on-one whenever he can against Davante.

· The results are what you would expect, but Adams also does that to Marcus Peters. He is a unicorn and will do it all season.

· I believe Bennett is squarely in the competition for a starter’s job at cornerback. One thing that impresses me is how he sticks to Marcus Peters’ side, asking questions.

· I asked Peters about Bennett’s constant searching for coaching and teaching, and he told me: "I tell everybody, man, I'm an open book, and for you to get the information you've got to go want to pull it out of the library and you've got to want to go read it. He (Bennett) just comes over and ask questions, and every question he's got I don't got the answer, we're going to figure it out together. And then we get in the meeting room he sits right next to me and he's still asking questions. And that's how it goes, that's how game is passed down most of the time. You don't got to really say too much, just pay attention and lead by example and pay attention by example and you just start filling in your little information, add everything to his game and then it's going to be him."

· I asked Bennett how he constantly talks to Peters and Davante Adams for wisdom. The rookie, humble beyond his years, said: “I'm just like -- someone told me: 'A dumb question is a question never asked.' So, I just like to ask questions because Davante [Adams] is arguably one of the best receivers, so I just try to get his knowledge. Like, what kind of gives him trouble, what can I do to kind of elevate my game. And then with MP [Marcus Peters], he's a ball hawk. I think he has like 32 career interceptions. So, I just try to pick his brain to see how I can kind of slow the game down and just try to make plays like how he did. I love asking questions. I try not to ask too many questions though, but they have open ears, and they're willing to answer any question."

· The Raiders' defense and we are ONLY done with week two, is accomplishing their task.

· The pressure on the quarterback is coming from more than Maxx Crosby, the linebacker coverage has been excellent, and the defensive backs are making significant, sudden-impact plays.

· Now, I have been around football long enough to know that it means nothing right now. The defense knows the route tree and the plays, but if they play like this in joint practices, we know that what we see is legitimate.

· These next two weeks are going to tell us a lot.

· My quick camp take is simple, the defense is improved, but you can’t read too much into it now.

· The offense is better, schematically especially.

· McDaniels wants the Raiders to attack that seven-twenty-five-yard part of the field (past the line of scrimmage), and when they do that, they are significantly better than last season. The Silver and Black offense struggles when the coverage dictates a second or even third read.

· Part of that can be the defense knows the offense; we will learn more this week.

· I have been reporting for months about the Raiders having learned from the failed experiment of putting Nate Hobbs on the outside. He is a natural slot, and when asked if he was more comfortable in the slot, his straightforward answer should tell you all you need to hear. “I'm comfortable there. I get to open my vision, see the field, use my instincts," Hobbs said. "But honestly, I'm ready to go wherever I need to -- corner, nickel, it doesn't really matter, I just want to help the team."

· Hobbs also spoke about the impact of Epps and Peters on the defense: “Man, MP [Marcus Peters], I just think his football IQ is on another level. His instincts, his feet, body position. A guy like that, he just brings a whole new energy to our defense and there's nothing like having a vet back there who can just see everything, it's crazy to me. It's like he's in practice and in a walk thought, so slow. And then Marcus Epps, man he's a general out there, he knows what he's doing, he's getting everybody in the right position, and he just knows the defense like the back of his hand. He's always in the right spot, always knows the right call to make. So I think that's just real valuable additions to our defense that's going to take our defensive back position to the next level."

· The Raiders' defense wants to improve their coverage. They want more tight, man-on-man looks from their defense and get more turnovers.

· Wide receiver Phillip Dorsett has seen it and talked about it. “Yeah, you can tell" Dorsett said. "I mean, they're playing a lot of tight coverage and they're right there. They're getting physical; they're in your face, and they're playing great defense. We haven't been well offensively, there's some things that we need to work on. But at the end of the day, I mean, defense has just been playing phenomenal."

· Ddefensive tackle Adam Butler has had a good camp. He was on the outside looking in at a roster spot coming into camp. He is battling and making the most of Neil Farrell not being here.

· Another player who came into camp on the outside and looked in at a roster spot was cornerback David Long. He has battled, and if I had to predict today, I think he will make it.

· Joint practices over the next two weeks are huge for Long and Butler.

The Silver and Black open the preseason by hosting the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Aug. 13, at 4 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. PDT.

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