Notes and Quotes from day two of Raiders OTA’s

Notes, quotes and various reports and observations from day two of the Oakland Raiders OTA’s, which was open to the media.

The Oakland Raiders began their offseason organized team activities, known as OTA’s, this week. The second day of OTA’s was open to the media, and there is plenty of info to gather based on what went down, including various notes and observations, quotes, as well as a notable special guest being in town.

Heading into the week, all eyes were expected to be on Marshawn Lynch, as the formerly retired star player would be making his first public appearance at a team workout. But a different still retired former star player stole the spotlight, and that was Calvin Johnson. As a special guest of new offensive coordinator Todd Downing, who was a coach in Detroit for six seasons with Calvin there, the former Lion was in town to provide insight to the wide receiver group.

Having one of the game’s great players at the position had to be quite the treat for the current wide receivers on the roster, as most of the group is young and were probably in high school when Calvin was dominating the league. Amari Cooper spoke on that in his presser:

"“I’ve just been asking him a whole bunch of questions. How does he run certain routes? What was his regiment like? And how he was so productive? He’s a really cool guy. He’s been giving me some really great feedback, so he’s nice to have around.”"

The question on everyone’s mind, of course, are the chances that Johnson comes out of retirement and laces up the cleats one more time, but this time, in Silver and Black.

Unfortunately, the outlook there doesn’t seem too realistic. The Lions still own Calvin’s rights, which Donald Penn touched on when describing an exchange the two had.

Calvin Johnson in Raiders gear is certainly a weird feeling, even if it’s just as a guest at an offseason session. Seeing as Al Davis passed on Calvin in favor of a certain quarterback, it brings back those “what could have been” feelings that don’t do anyone any good.

Never say never, but while it’s a fun thought, temper any expectations you might have on this becoming a thing.

Penn also talked about motivation for the upcoming season during his presser:

"“The good thing is, when you’ve got that bad taste in your mouth out here, it makes you work harder. It makes you put in extra work because that taste is still in there and you don’t want to have that taste anymore. It’s good having it now because we’re working hard and putting in that much more work.”"

As far as Marshawn goes, he was limited for the second day in a row. There was no mention of any injury or soreness/tightness of any kind, and it was explained by Jack Del Rio that there was “no issues” and that Lynch is “soaking up the system”.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/867111668345688064

Gareon Conley took third-team reps at cornerback, and then Penn and Jihad Ward were involved in what ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez described as a “dust up”. Jimmy Durkin of Bay Area News Group noted that there were a couple of punches thrown, but no player or coach provide any further details beyond that.

At inside linebacker, first-team snaps went to Cory James and Tyrell Adams. So at the earliest possible stages of the offseason, those are the two who have the holeshot for the starting job. Marquel Lee is looming, however, and absolutely can seize that job sooner than later. And there is Perry Riley Jr. as well, who could be brought back at some point.

Sean Smith and Austin Howard, who both had offseason surgery, were around as well. Smith was a full participant but Howard mostly did work in the team’s performance center. Which is what Marshawn did most of the time as well.

Shilique Calhoun packed on 20 pounds, and is now up to 271. That should definitely have a noticeable impact on his play in 2017.

Jelani Jenkins practiced on Monday, but only did side work on Tuesday. It wasn’t specified, but a safe assumption is he likely just had some sort of tightness/soreness after the first day. Ben Heeney only did side work as well, as it seems he isn’t fully back from his ankle injury.

Mario Edwards Jr. is back and feeling good, and said in his presser that he wants to become a “dominant” player. He’s flashed high level of play, so it’s just a matter of him putting it all together and staying healthy.

Del Rio is excited about Mario being back in the mix:

"“Mario loves to play football. For him to be healthy right now and be with his buddies, his teammates, I think is huge for him. We missed him last year. He’s an impactful player. He’s getting himself ready to have a really big year for us.”"

Must Read: Raiders 2nd in Power Rankings

All in all, it seemed like a fun day in Alameda. Marshawn is in Silver and Black, Calvin Johnson was around the team, Derek Carr is back, Mario Edwards Jr. is healthy, and the Raiders even checked in at no. 2 in Sports Illustrated’s power rankings.