The Las Vegas Raiders might have gone through more changes than any other NFL franchise this offseason. Not only did they hire a new leadership tandem, but they also have very few starters remaining from last year's four-win team.
Newcomers like Geno Smith, Germaine Pratt and Jeremy Chinn are sure to excite Raider Nation when they take the field. But the rookie class has several intriguing players as well, including Ashton Jeanty, Dont'e Thornton Jr., Darien Porter and Jack Bech.
With the preseason rapidly approaching, fans have been chomping at the bit to see all of the Raiders' new pieces in action. Before opening up the preseason against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, head coach Pete Carroll was asked if fans should expect to see the starters.
Pete Carrroll gave mysterious answer about Raiders' starters playing in preseason
Carroll, who has been abundantly honest with the media this offseason, suddenly became fluent in coach speak when asked this question. His response was essentially a non-response, leaving Raider Nation guessing on what the plan is for Thursday.
"Everybody's live, everybody's ready to go," Carroll said.
This is not exactly a confirmation from Carroll that the starters will be playing, nor is it a denial. All that fans can decipher is that everyone will be suited up and ready to go, but that gives no indication as to what kind of workload or snap share fans can expect from different players on the team.
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Given his history in the preseason, it would stand to reason that the Raiders' starters will play very little, if at all. However, this is an entirely new scenario for Carroll, and he and the staff are likely chomping at the bit to see these players line up against another team.
Seattle has made it known that they intend to play their backups, so if the Raiders play their starters, it would not be a great depiction of how things will go during the regular season. It may excite the fan base to see the team potentially dominate, but it has no bearing on the games that count.
Thursday's game kicks off at 7:00 p.m. PST at Lumen Field in Seattle. This will be a homecoming game for Carroll, Smith and recent free agent signing Jamal Adams, all of whom made significant contributions to the Seahawks over the years.