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Oakland Raiders training camp: Jack Del Rio addresses Sean Smith demotion

By John Buhler

NEW ORLEANS, LA - SEPTEMBER 11: Head coach Jack Del Rio of the Oakland Raiders reacts during the first half of a game against the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on September 11, 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - SEPTEMBER 11: Head coach Jack Del Rio of the Oakland Raiders reacts during the first half of a game against the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on September 11, 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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It was Family Day at Oakland Raiders camp. Head coach Jack Del Rio met with the media after practice and talked on Sean Smith‘s demotion to second team.

Sunday was Family Day at Oakland Raiders training camp in Napa Valley. The vibes across camp were good, as the Raiders enter another off-day on Monday. Oakland is about halfway through its training camp stint in Napa. Head coach Jack Del Rio met with the media after practice on Sunday.

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Despite having quite a few players banged up early in camp, Del Rio remains very optimistic about the crew he has this year. When asked about how he feels about the top draft picks missing time either here in camp or OTAs before that, Del Rio would say, “We’re going to matter of factly deal with it and move on”. He is very much okay with the next man up mentality.

This transitioned nicely into the burning question everybody wanted to know at Raiders camp: What’s the deal with cornerback Sean Smith getting moved to second team?

Smith had his struggles his first year with the Raiders, but Del Rio didn’t exactly consider Smith’s new role a demotion per se. He is quoted saying, “everybody wants to be the guy…we also understand there is a certain amount of competition out here….[just] rolling a few guys in there to make it ultra-competitive.”

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Fair enough. Del Rio wants to see his secondary get better and be a deeper bunch heading into the season. The only issue is that Smith is on the books for a ton of cash on that multi-year deal he signed out of Kansas City in 2016. Del Rio would point out that it is getting so much attention because of the position Smith plays.

“everybody wants to be the guy…we also understand there is a certain amount of competition out here….[just] rolling a few guys in there to make it ultra-competitive.” HC Jack Del Rio on CB Sean Smith running with the second team

The general sense is that Del Rio believes that his team will be more balanced this year with the defense catching up to the offense.

He was in a much better mood when compared to the last practice before an off-day earlier in the week.

When asked about fifth-round pick rookie inside linebacker Marquel Lee, Del Rio would say that he “has been fairly solid” thoughout camp.

Lee seems to be a consistent player coming out of Wake Forest. Del Rio sees him better handled to stop the run than the pass at this point of his young NFL career.

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Again, Del Rio was not going to bite on any Donald Penn holdout related questions. He’d rather focus on the guys at camp than those who are not. Del Rio did speak highly of two offensive linemen that are getting essentially Penn’s reps in camp in veteran Marshall Newhouse and young player Vadal Alexander.

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The Raiders will be back at it in training camp on Tuesday. They will take on the Arizona Cardinals in their first preseason game on Saturday night in Glendale. It’ll be interesting to see who shines in the Arizona desert on Saturday evening.

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