After spending the past six seasons as an NFL beat reporter, I knew there were two critical rules for covering training camp: Apply lots of sunscreen and do not forget the binoculars. Now as an NFL staff writer for The MMQB, I get plenty of opportunities to tan in multiple stops for my first training camp tour. I plan on visiting with eight teams on the West Coast throughout the next two weeks. But my first stop was with the Raiders, and I broke one of the critical rules—I forgot my binoculars. This was a costly mistake because Raiders coach Josh McDaniels is known for having his players practice as far as possible from the media. But it wasn’t so bad Monday, with the Raiders practicing indoors to escape the desert heat for a day.
Crisis averted, but this mistake won’t occur again for my stops with the Cardinals, Cowboys, Chargers, Rams, 49ers, Seahawks, Broncos, and with the Saints in mid–August, when they conduct joint scrimmages with the Chargers in Southern California.
Despite not having my binoculars to kickoff the tour, there was still plenty to see from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the rest of the Raiders.
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Best play I saw: Garoppolo had a rough stretch after throwing back-to-back interceptions during team drills. But on the following pass, he looked upfield and threw a pinpoint pass where only wide receiver DeAndre Carter could grab it with a defender one step behind him near the right sideline. Throwing two consecutive interceptions in practice isn’t ideal, but it’s a good sign that Garoppolo didn’t lack confidence after the mistakes and prioritized building chemistry with his new wideouts.
With Garoppolo missing the offseason program due to a foot injury, mistakes were bound to occur for his first training camp with the Raiders. Later in practice, Garoppolo had an impressive deep-ball connection with star wideout Davante Adams, who beat tight coverage from cornerback Brandon Facyson.
Garoppolo might not have the strongest arm among starting NFL quarterbacks, but he had a few explosive plays Monday.
Best thing I heard: Fullback Jakob Johnson admitted that he didn’t know that he needed to touch home plate while playing in a charity softball game with teammates earlier this month.
“Somebody should have told me before the game, touch the home plate when you want to score,” said the outgoing fullback from Stuttgart, Germany. “I thought it was more like a finish-line situation.”
The subject came up because cornerback Nate Hobbs returned to practice Monday for the first time since getting hit in the face by a softball.
“I thought he had it, too,” Johnson said. “ A couple innings later, I had a fly (ball) going my way and I let it go right over my head.”
Sticking to nonfootball sports, the Raiders had a unique way of practicing how to block kicks. They used soccer balls to decrease the odds of players getting their fingers injured from pointy footballs.
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Rookie who caught my eye: Wide receiver Tre Tucker, the team’s 2023 third-round pick, also benefited from Garoppolo’s downfield plays near the right sideline. The rookie wideout saw a few targets playing with the first-team offense, and he’s also a strong candidate to be the punt returner, partly because of his 4.40 speed in the 40-yard dash. If Tucker finds his footing in regular-season games, the Raiders could have a strong receiving corps with Adams, Jakobi Meyers and Hunter Renfrow. But Tucker playing well might cut into Renfrow’s playing time.
Veteran who caught my eye: For starters, I’m not saying fantasy football managers should rush to draft running back Ameer Addullah if Josh Jacobs’s hold out lingers into the regular season, but he was heavily involved in Monday’s practice. The former Lions and Vikings running back saw a handful of carries and had a few targets out of the backfield.
But Abdullah, a 2015 second-round pick, wasn’t first in line to receive carries—that went to second-year running back Zamir White. Also, the Raiders weren’t wearing pads. The first day of padded practices is scheduled for Tuesday, when I’m scheduled to be in Arizona to visit the Cardinals. Another mistake by me.
But there was still plenty to see, and Abdullah stood out during practice.
