By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Raiders General Manager Dave Ziegler strolled along the sideline, watching the passing drills at the team’s practice fields at HQ in Henderson Thursday morning.
Any sense of dawn coolness in temperatures had evaporated by 9:45AM and it was already furnace hot as backup quarterback Chase Garbers tossed the football to receivers in drills. Defensive backs were now guarding the Raiders pass-catchers and Ziegler was yelling out .
Raiders coach Josh McDaniels had already chatted with media and he offered this thought about working with former college and ex-Patriots buddy, Ziegler.
The Raiders’ naming rights deal with Salt Lake City, Utah-based-based Intermountain Healthcare is clear as a Henderson day on the writing on the Raiders HQ’s exterior wall facing the three practice fields.
Today was the second day for the players to be practicing in shoulder pads and there is a physical intensity to the players’ moves — the receivers’ planting their legs to make a route cut; a tight end launching into a clock; the “gunners” flying down the practice field as punts soar into the air.
Season ticket holders get to watch the practices. They sit under tents and are dressed in Raiders logo gear. Raiders ticket staffers schmooze with the fans.
It’s one of the longer practices even with the hot conditions. The team plays the Jacksonville Jaguars in only one week at Canton, Ohio in the NFL season’s first preseason exhibition game.
At the Raiders practices, I’m still trying to get used to the 30-minute rule that the Raiders enforce to allow the media to take photos and video for only a half-hour after they’re allowed into the practice fields area. As an old city hall reporter, this rule is foreign turf to me and I mistakenly snap a photo after the deadline. I’m told no pictures.
The players are strolling into the media room to field questions, with running back Kenyan Drake talking about his versatility.
“It’s about running my own race,” said Drake, the former Alabama runner in his seventh season.
Cornerback Anthony Averett, who came from the Baltimore Ravens and played college at Alabama, said he’s impressed with the Raiders receiver corps, including Davante Adams.
Averett said he’s ready to play any role.
And wrapping up the trio of players was offensive lineman Dylan Parham, a rookie guard from Memphis who is a six-foot, two-inch 311-pounder.
Parham, who used the word, “sir,” in his answers, said he’s excited about Las Vegas and that entertainment in the form of impressions on the team has the linemen’s room in high spirits.
He said a big difference between the college and pro games has been “guys get off the ball faster.”