The Raiders were the talk of the NFL Tuesday after it was announced they’d appear on HBO’s Hard Knocks. But there’s more. The team is close to finalizing a deal with the Rams to hold joint practices at Raiders training camp in Napa, according to The Las Vegas Review Journal’s Michael Gehlken.
With a preseason game following the joint practices, these two teams will certainly get to know one another. The head coaches, Jon Gruden of the Raiders and Sean McVay of the Rams, have known each other professionally since 2008 when Gruden hired McVay to his first NFL coaching job in Tampa Bay.
McVay has had success in Los Angeles, taking his Rams to the Super Bowl last season but losing to the Patriots. The Rams’ NFC Championship campaign started last season with a win in Oakland on Monday Night Football. The teams also played in the preseason, with each coach refusing to show any cards leading up to their Week 1 game.
This time around, the Raiders get to compete against one of the best teams in the NFL and play them in the preseason, with no regular season implications. The practices promise to be spirited, with Gruden and McVay battling for bragging rights, not to mention the usual intense competition of camp.
Which adds up to must-watch programming for HBO and Hard Knocks. That, and the plentiful other reasons, such as wide receiver Antonio Brown, linebacker Vontaze Burfict, general manager Mike Mayock and this being the franchise’s last training camp as Oakland Raiders.
