Every day it seems like the media members who are present at practice say that the defense won the day. As we know, any good defense is going to be a few steps ahead of the offense at this point in the preseason, and this situation is just that. The most important thing to consider is how the offense is progressing, and based on what I read and saw today, it seems like there were a few more bright spots than in previous days.
The reality of the Raiders' season is that the defense will likely do the heavy lifting and lead us to more victories than the offense will, but once again, a little bit more give-and-take in training camp would help fans be more optimistic. Here's how it all shook out today:
Notes from Camp
To no surprise, camp began with a running game segment. A lot was accomplished, and as usual, the defense outperformed the offense. Vic Tafur of The Athletic noted that Adam Butler was particularly impressive stopping the run during this segment.
A 7-on-7 period followed this, and it was a bit of a mixed bag. The defense won again, and Butler continued his dominant play, and both Jakorian Bennett and Nate Hobbs made good plays on the ball according to Levi Edwards of Raiders.com. Minshew and O'Connell both seemingly played well, but Tre Tucker dropped yet another pass.
Pretty clean 7 on 7 by both QBs. AOC threw a pretty deep pass that went off Tucker’s hands. Minshew dropped one into Adams but he couldn’t catch it as PI was called..
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) July 30, 2024
Projected starting RT Thayer Munford Jr. left practice for a bit with a hand injury, but he returned later on and said in his post-practice interview that he was fine. The good news is that rookie T DJ Glaze got to fill in and put together some great reps, holding his own against the big dogs on the defensive line according to the Las Vegas Review Journal's Vincent Bonsignore. He even drew praise from Munford in the same interview.
A few offensive weapons had their moments today, as Bonsignore noted that rookie RB Dylan Laube was taking reps with the first team as the third-down back. This is not due to Ameer Abdullah's struggles, but rather, Laube's successes. Bonsignore went on to say that both of the quarterbacks had good moments today behind an offensive line that could give more resistance, and Levi Edwards mentioned that QB Anthony Brown scored a touchdown on a read option play. Brown seems to be in line for the third quarterback position as Carter Bradley has made no waves in camp to this point.
Aidan O'Connell & Gardner Minshew with nice moments today. The offensive line fully engaging now that the pads are on has given the @Raiders QB's time to throw. O'Connell had a nice completion to Jakobi Meyers and Minshew connected with Brock Bowers on a 20-yard crosser.
— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) July 30, 2024
Tashan Reed, also of The Athletic, mentioned that it was a rough day for the interior offensive line, which makes it all that much more important that Jackson Powers-Johnson returns from the PUP list soon. He is projected to start at left guard, which has pushed Dylan Parham to the right side, and the unit needs as many reps together as possible in order to keep the quarterback upright.
Logan Reever of 8News Now is a savior for Raider Nation. He logged every single play from the first team in 11-on-11 drills.
(P 2/2) pic.twitter.com/chyer06s2o
— Logan Reever (@loganreever) July 30, 2024
There is a lot to dissect here. Obviously, the fumble on the first play is not ideal, but the offense worked out the kinks and produced some big plays. The running game had a tough time getting going, but that is expected on the first day. Brock Bowers is leaving his fingerprints all over the offense and Luke Getsy seems to be mixing things up quite a bit. Multiple players had both a catch and a rush, and there was a good mixture of both inside and outside runs as well as passes on all three levels.
Unfortunately, O'Connell seemed to struggle throwing the ball downfield. He could have been responsible for two turnovers in just about 20 plays if not for a Jack Jones drop, and he seemingly only completed one pass downfield. The only mention of Minshew is a positive one, so that is something. Tomorrow, if the pattern continues, Minshew will get a majority of the reps with the first team, so I am curious to see the difference in results for the offense.
Paul Gutierrez of ESPN also mentioned that "each QB had a pass what has been more regularly called a "hospital ball" to receiver Davante Adams, for its potential to get him hurt -- much to Adams' chagrin." Most Raiders fans watched Receivers on Netflix, or at least saw the clips of him complaining about this very notion. The quarterbacks need to clean this up so their best weapon is not sidelined.
Thayer Munford, Divine Deablo, Dylan Parham and Malcolm Koonce all spoke to the media after practice.
Munford went on about his battles with Maxx Crosby and seems to be embracing both the starting position and his fortune of going against the league's best every day. Deablo made interesting comments about how he had not lived up to his personal expectations thus far in his NFL career, but he seems determined to remedy that.
Parham spoke highly of Christian Wilkins and rookies DJ Glaze and Dylan Laube, as did Koonce, and Parham echoed Antonio Pierce's sentiment that the run game should be the identity of the Raiders' offensive line. Koonce also referred to both quarterbacks as "dawgs" which is a positive sentiment, and he seems to be in a great place mentally, unlike in years past.
Raiders.com also released the first part of their "Letters from Camp" series on their website, this time it featured rookie RB Dylan Laube. It is definitely worth a read.