Oakland Raiders Training Camp: News and Notes from Day 3

Stuart Kovacs – Aug 1, 2012

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

On the injury front, wide receiver Denarius Moore did not practice. According to Vic Tafur’s Twitter page, the second year player was held out due to precautionary reasons after he was favoring his hamstring during Tuesday’s practice.

Moore had suffered the injury during the team’s mandatory mini-camp. Rod Streater, who is a rookie out of Temple, received most of Moore’s snaps as the “Z receiver.”

Tight end Richard Gordon also missed practice, according to Steve Corkran’s Twitter page. The second-year player injured his hip in yesterday’s session.

Running back Mike Goodson, who injured his hamstring during Tuesday’s practice, participated today.

Punter Shane Lechler (knee), linebacker Aaron Curry (knee), cornerback Ron Bartell (hamstring), and defensive lineman Travis Ivey (conditioning) were all out of action for the third straight day, according to Corkran.

Luckily for the Raiders, there weren’t any injuries that occurred during Wednesday’s practice. For at least one day, the team can focus on getting its previously injured players healthy.

During the practice, much of the focus was on the defensive front seven, the offensive line, and running backs. This was due to the fact that the players were in pads for the first time during the training camp period.

It was evident that discipline still remains a major issue for the defensive line. As Corkran observed, there were several instances early on in the session when defensive linemen such as Tommy Kelly and Lamarr Houston jumped offsides.

Later in the practice, there was a moment where two players jumped offsides at exactly the same time.

Tafur also witnessed an occasion where center Stefen Wisniewski was not appreciative of Kelly jumping offsides as he was getting to the quarterback too early.

However, while discipline is obviously a major issue, the defensive line had a terrific day otherwise.

/articleimages/jackcrawford1.jpg According to Corkran, Rookie Jack Crawford had a tremendous day as he broke through the offensive line and got to the quarterback three times.

Also along the defensive line, Richard Seymour, Desmond Bryant, and Matt Shaughnessy had some positive plays, as Corkran observed.

Seymour and Bryant both beat offensive lineman Mike Brisiel at different moments on pass rush situations. Shaughnessy had a nice tackle on running back Taiwan Jones early. Later on, he got in Palmer’s face and knocked down one of his passes.

Linebacker Rolando McClain looks much better in pass coverage, according to Corkran. The team’s first-round draft pick in 2010 reportedly lost about ten pounds, as requested by the coaching staff. The team also wants McClain to be more of a vocal leader on defense.

On offense, quarterback Carson Palmer didn’t look as good as he did in the previous two practices.

According to Levi Damien’s Twitter page, Palmer had a rough day in which he had several throws that were inaccurate.

Running backs Darren McFadden, Taiwan Jones, and Mike Goodson all had positive practices. Each player broke off a long run on at least one occasion.

At wide receiver, Darrius Heyward-Bey continued to impress while Duke Calhoun had an extremely rough morning.

Corkran observed Heyward-Bey making several nice catches. At one point, he caught a pass from Palmer between defensive backs Shawntae Spencer and Tyvon Branch.

Calhoun was getting a lot of grief from the coaching staff after two drops during the session. This isn’t good for the former Memphis Tiger who is in a competitive battle for the final wide receiver spot on the roster.

While the defensive line had much success getting to the quarterback, it was the offensive line that struggled in protection. Mike Brisiel, who was signed to a five-year contract this offseason, clearly struggled on several plays.

However, the offensive line as a whole was bad which is likely due to the team’s new zone-blocking scheme.

With the team finally putting the pads on, the Raiders are now moving full speed ahead. Over the next few days and weeks, it will be evident what the 2012 roster will look like after many tough position battles.

Raider Nation Times will continue to monitor the team’s progress throughout the entire training camp period.