Oakland Raiders Training Camp: News and Notes from Day 2

Stuart Kovacs – Jul 31, 2012

On Tuesday, the Oakland Raiders participated in their second day of training camp practice. Here are some news and notes from various reporters of the team.

There were no new surprises on the injury front as the practice began.

Punter Shane Lechler (knee), linebacker Aaron Curry (knee), cornerback Ron Bartell (hamstring), and defensive lineman Travis Ivey (conditioning) were all out of action, according to Paul Gutierrez’s Twitter page,

All four players are expected to return to practice soon as the injuries seem to be rather minor.

Wide receiver Jacoby Ford, who injured his left knee during Monday’s session, had “no lingering effects,” according to Steve Corkran’s Twitter page.

During the practice running back Mike Goodson and tight end Richard Gordon both suffered injuries and didn’t finish practice, according to Gutierrez.

Goodson suffered a hamstring injury and Gordon suffered a hip flexor. Both injuries appear to be day-to-day.

At running back, second year player Taiwan Jones got most of the second-team reps, according to Levi Damien’s Twitter page.

While it is tough to judge running backs without tackling in practice, Jones appeared to have an up and down day.

At one point, Jones dropped a pass after he tried to run before catching the ball, said Corkran. He also wound up fumbling the footballball in the open field. However, he recovered his own fumble.

On the positive side, Corkran observed the impressive speed that Jones has. He almost scored a touchdown on an outside run. However, cornerback Terrail Lambert was able to prevent the running back from getting around him.

Fullback Marcel Reece had numerous nice grabs during the session.  According to Corkran, the former Washington Huskie made several nice catches as he was covered by rookie linebacker Miles Burris.

According to Vic Tafur’s Twitter page, quarterback Terrelle Pryor was working on his shoulder placement when dropping back. He was reportedly throwing some inaccurate passes at times. Fellow backup Matt Leinart impressed Tafur with his increased velocity from the OTA’s.

Starting quarterback Carson Palmer continues to impress everyone in attendance. Corkran described his follow-through as “textbook.” His only mistake seemed to be when he threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

At offensive line, the starting group remained the same. However, Corkran observed that although still working with the second-team, Joseph Barksdale and Tony Bergstrom both worked on the right side of the line. They worked on the left side during Monday’s practice.

On defense, cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke impressed everyone in attendance for the second straight practice. The former Miami Hurricane, who is taking over first-team reps for injured Ron Bartell, had numerous pass deflections, according to Corkran.

Towards the end of practice, safety Mike Mitchel intercepted a pass thrown by Carson Palmer and returned it for a touchdown. Corkran observed that the safety also broke up a few more passes.

On special teams, Marquette King continued punting duties as All-Pro Shane Lechler is still injured. Gutierrez noted that King had a punt that netted a 5.2 hang time.

As for the rest of special teams, Jacoby Ford, Derek Carrier, DeAundre Muhammad, Denarius Moore, and Juron Criner all received time as punt returners.

With two days of training camp practice in the books, it is still too early to gauge the total progress of the team thus far.

However, the Raiders begin practicing with pads tomorrow which will allow for a better overall evaluation.

Raider Nation Times will continue to monitor this progress throughout the entire training camp period.

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