Raiders Move Indoors Tuesday After Off Day Monday, Look Forward To Wearing Pads Wednesday
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
After an off day Monday, the Las Vegas Raiders were back at practice Tuesday — indoors.
The Raiders worked on punts and kick coverage; caught passes from a variety of quarterbacks including starter Derek Carr and worked on defensive drills.
The team typically works on its blocking, formations and plays outdoors.
But on Tuesday, the team started a bit later a day after no practice the day before.
The giant, four-story tall building with the artificial turf gives players a place for walk-throughs in the evening and lighter practices. It’s also a haven when there’s bad weather.
The 150,000-square-foot fieldhouse has room for one and a half fields. There are three practice fields outside at the Raiders HQ not too far from St. Rose Parkway and Starr Avenue in south Henderson.
Walking in first for a media chat was Brandon Bolden, a 32-year-old, 10-year veteran running back.
“I’m expecting to play football,” Bolden said.
“We’re just getting into pads for the first time tomorrow,” he added.
Here’s Bolden talking about playing in the NFL as a game versus a job:
“Oh, it’s still a game. I mean, it’s very serious because yes, it is a job, this is the only thing I have to do. It’s not like as a kid, you got to go to school, you got to make sure you got good grades, and then you get to go have fun with your friends. This is wake up, go to meetings, go out, laugh (and) joke around, try to keep things light because it is camp.
“Once the pads start coming on and we start to stack those days, come to ‘dog days’ and so that’s when no one wants to joke around and laugh anymore because everybody’s dog tired. So just try to keep everybody’s spirits up. I’ve tried to keep everything light, keep everything moving. That’s something that I’ve had vets do for me as a younger player and I’m just trying to keep that flame going.”
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Former Raider first-rounder Damon Arnette is in more trouble. After the Raiders released Arnette shortly after the Henry Ruggs crash that killed a young woman, TMZ reported that he was arrested and booked on a drug charge in Florida.
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Lineman Brandon Parker showed up at the media lectern and mentioned he has seen the “hunger and willing to learn” among the young offensive line guys.
The spotlight is on the offensive line after struggling last year and not opening up too many holes for the Raiders running game.
Parker said he has heard the rumblings about the offensive line being the “weakest link” of the Raiders and he said “it puts a chip on your shoulder.”
Here’s what he wanted to improve on: “For one, way too many penalties. Way too many false starts last year. I hurt my team in that way. And with the new staff coming in we have a lap every false start we have, which helps to kind of straighten up. A lot of holdings, too many sacks.”
And here’s Parker on getting the pads on Wednesday: “That first click-clack, man. You get the butterflies like it’s a game. You’re like, ‘Oh man, here it comes.’ And then you just make that collision and you’re like, ‘Alright, let’s play football.’ And I think there is a little built-up tension, and it always is between brothers. We all want to prove we are the best on the field, so it might be a little testy. But that’s a part of the game, we all want to be great, and iron sharpens iron, so if we keep pushing for greatness, eventually we will achieve it.”
Next up was Divine Deablo, a 226-pounder who went from safety to linebacker.
Here’s Deablo on the transition: “So being at safety, I get to see the whole field. Linebacker you got to look around more, know what’s behind you. So, it’s tougher, but I’m getting a better feel for it.”
He mentioned the new linebackers on the team
“We’re all like brothers in there,” Deablo said.
The Raiders’ best lineman, Kolton Miller, a six-foot, eight-inch 309-pounder out of UCLA, took his turn with the media.
“We’re ready, we’re ready,” Miller said of putting on the pads Wednesday. “We get to compete. It’s going to be awesome. I’m looking forward to it.”
More on getting the pads on: “Yeah, we ready. We ready. I’m excited. We finally get to go pop; we get to go compete. It’s different when you have like no pads and stuff and defenders are just working you know more hands and stuff. So, now we get to feel the bull rush, get run off the ball in the run game. It’s going to be awesome. I’m looking forward to it. And I hear we might have some goal line tomorrow. Yeah, we’re getting it off right.”
