Kubiak praises facility, condition of players<\/p>\n
Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak had a lot to account for the last three days, the first three days of training camp, his first training camp as a first-year coach. Amid the individual developmental drills, 7-on-7 and 11-on-11, the collective\u2019s conditioning is catching his attention.<\/p>\n
So much for that summertime sun.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number one thing these first three days is to see what kind of shape we\u2019re in,\u201d Kubiak said Friday morning at Intermountain Health Performance Center. \u201c\u2026 Our training staff has got guys ready to go physically to play football. \u2026 We\u2019re really blessed to have great facilities here and a great training staff that\u2019s got our guys to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Las Vegas mixed and matched its personnel through its first three days of training camp as Kubiak and his coaching staff ramp up for next week\u2019s padded practices. Practicing in \u201cunderwear\u201d \u2014 as Kubiak referenced when asked about rookie running back Mike Washington Jr. \u2014 doesn\u2019t paint the full evaluatory picture for the Raiders, who wore smaller, thinner spider pads Friday as they emphasized red-zone offense and defense.<\/p>\n
They won\u2019t take the practice field Saturday, returning Sunday for the first of three practices before another off-day Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Here are some observations after Day 3:<\/p>\n
Quarterbacks update<\/p>\n
\u25a0 Kirk Cousins decisive and accurate: Announced as the starting quarterback Tuesday, Cousins has handled all the first-team reps and displayed the decisiveness and accuracy befitting of a 15-year veteran passer. He connected twice for touchdowns Friday with tight end Brock Bowers in 11-on-11 and added 7-on-7 scores to wideouts Tre Tucker and Jalen Nailor, as well as running back Ashton Jeanty.<\/p>\n
He also threw the camp\u2019s first interception targeting Tucker during 7-on-7 that cornerback Darien Porter tipped to Taron Johnson, who\u2019s repped in the slot and also at safety. But his flurry of touchdown passes followed and he\u2019s hardly missed an open pass catcher.<\/p>\n
Also on the field<\/p>\n
\u25a0 Rookie corners in the mix: Rookie fifth-round draftee Hezekiah Masses is getting steady run with the first-team defense, splitting reps with Darien Porter opposite top cornerback Eric Stokes. Speaking Thursday, defensive coordinator Rob Leonard said Masses isn\u2019t \u201cscared to make a play\u201d from a competitive position.<\/p>\n
Fourth-round draftee Jermod McCoy \u2014 a first-round pick if not for concern about lingering effects from a torn left ACL \u2014 is repping at corner with the second and third teams and practicing three consecutive days makes for a \u201cpositive start,\u201d per Kubiak. \u201cKeep stacking days. We\u2019ll keep monitoring his mileage and just see how he comes and recovers the next day,\u201d Kubiak added.<\/p>\n
\u25a0 Offensive line gelling: Kolton Miller, Spencer Burford, Tyler Linderbaum, Jackson Powers-Johnson and DJ Glaze have manned the first-team offensive line the last three days. Trey Zuhn III, Jordan Meredith and Caleb Rogers have repped at second-team guard.<\/p>\n
Zuhn repped Friday with the second-team at center, once snapping the football several feet over quarterback Fernando Mendoza\u2019s head.<\/p>\n
Special teams<\/p>\n
\u25a0 Kickers competing: Matt Gay and Kansei Matsuzawa are competing to kick for the Raiders this fall with the veteran having the early edge on the rookie. Gay made a 50-plus yarder Thursday through the facility\u2019s narrower-than-normal goal posts and didn\u2019t miss a field goal Friday as Matsuzawa missed a 40ish-yarder off the right upright.<\/p>\n
Injury news<\/p>\n
\u25a0 Kwity Paye leaves Friday\u2019s practice early: A starter on the edge, Paye walked off the practice field during an individual period, accompanied by a Raiders trainer. Asked about his status after practice, Kubiak said \u201cWe\u2019re trying to be smart. \u2026 We want to make sure we get him to the full padded days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malcolm Koonce replaced Paye with the first team and beat Glaze on a rush that would\u2019ve resulted in a sack or incompletion for Cousins.<\/p>\n
Last word<\/p>\n
\u25a0 Versatility valued: Kubiak said 90 percent of the Raiders haven\u2019t established their roles yet and highlighted the importance of positional versatility: \u201cReceivers that can play all three (spots), fullbacks that can play tight end and vice versa, DBs that can play corner and safety. That\u2019s how you make the roster in the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.<\/p>\n
Sam Gordon Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kubiak praises facility, condition of players Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak had a lot to account for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-837162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}