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Ten Raiders minicamp observations

By Paul Gutierrez | ESPN.com


ALAMEDA, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders concluded their mandatory three-day minicamp on Thursday, which was attended by everyone on their roster. Here are 10 observations from the final practice.

1. Second-year cornerback D.J. Hayden, who injured his left ankle in the first session of organized team activities, never got back on the practice field and coach Dennis Allen acknowledged Hayden is behind. "I don't think there's any way you can sugarcoat that," Allen said. "I mean, he's behind ... though it's nothing that he can't overcome. But he needs to be healthy and he needs to be out here and he needs to work. We'll see where he's at when we go through training camp."


2. Second-round draft choice Derek Carr has supplanted Matt McGloin as the second-string quarterback and Allen acknowledged he expects the Raiders to enter training camp with Carr as Matt Schaub's backup. "We're trying to expedite his progression and I've liked a lot of things I've seen out of Derek," Allen said. "He's still got a long way to go and I like the direction he's headed."

3. Big ticket offseason acquisition/right guard Austin Howard missed practice Thursday with a finger injury. "We sent him over to get an X-ray on his finger," Allen said. "Again, it's nothing that's going to be a big deal for him but more of a precautionary measure than anything else." With Howard out, Khalif Barnes took first-team reps at right guard, with Donald Penn at left tackle, rookie Gabe Jackson at left guard, Stefen Wisniewski at center and Menelik Watson at right tackle. "That was a lot of extra work for Gabe," Allen said, "so that was good for him."

4. Seventh-round draft pick T.J. Carrie has impressed the Raiders with his play at cornerback. "I've been very impressed with him, his ability to understand what we're trying to do within the scheme of the defense," Allen said. "What you look for in guys like that, you look for a guy that's going to make a play that kind of catches your attention and really, just about every day, there's been something that he's done that you say, ‘Damn, that was a pretty good play.'"

5. Top draft pick Khalil Mack also continues to impress, both coaches and teammates ... with his on-field play, though, more than with his singing voice. Veterans tried to have him sing R. Kelly and Usher songs after practice, Mack said, though without his trusty guitar, he had no background music.

6. Taiwan Jones, still making the transition to cornerback, had a pretty interception of McGloin, even if the pass itself was underthrown. Safety Jonathan Dowling, who was also a seventh-round draft pick, picked off Carr and later knocked down a McGloin pass down the right sideline. Still, there were some nice catches turned in by the likes of receiver Juron Criner across the middle and tight end Mychal Rivera over Tyvon Branch. "You never want to see things just totally one-sided, because that's not the sign of a good football team," Allen said.

7. There was a brief skirmish -- a couple of pushes -- between tackle Dan Kistler and defensive end Denico Autry. Who? It took longer to look up their names than the actual fight lasted. I kid ... kinda.

8. Allen said there is a palpable feel to how much, well, better this Raiders team is. "I don't think there's any question you can feel that," he said. "You guys have been around here, too, so I think you've seen these practices around here for a while. I think we've had an outstanding ofseason." Allen said he will spend two weeks of vacation in Florida with his family between now and the start of training camp.

9. Veteran weakside linebacker Kevin Burnett was a no-show to the first session of voluntary OTAs and has been rehabbing an injury since arriving for the second round of OTAs. Allen said he expects Burnett to compete for a starting job at training camp. Still, Sio Moore has moved from the strongside to the Will and Miles Burris began taking first-team reps on the weak side this week, with Nick Roach in the middle and rookie Mack on the strongside.

10. Raiders owner Mark Davis was an observer and said after practice that stadium talks for his team to remain in Oakland were "positive, but nothing happens after the talks." He also said he does not consider Major League Baseball's Athletics to be a rival for the Coliseum site but wishes that A's owner Lew Wolff would make his long-term intentions known.
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Apparently TJ Carrie has been killing it :smokin
DJ's foot is starting to worry me.

I think Denarius will be gone by the time season starts.
 
I might meet you up there mecks mecks

No trolling or hate raider fan brethren but I gotta see the 49ers play in the Bay Area one more time since they won't play in the Bay Area again for another 8 years.
 
JumpmanFromDaBay said:
You're not going to see them in Santa Clara?
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i'm poor
laugh.gif
,  if the tickets drop in price on stubhub i will.   plus it's more convenient to fly up to oakland, take the bus from the airport to the bart and get to the stadium then going to santa clara.

i just checked the prices on stubhub for that game though, i'm going to assume alot of other people got a similar idea as me because those tickets are way more then all the other games.   tickets are pretty cheap for the other games for you guys. midfield sideline seats for the arizona game for like $110 or so and the upper level seats for like $25.  that's a real good deal for a NFL game.

whenever you guys eventually get that stadium issue resolved, hopefully the new stadium is somewhere in oakland.    levi field looks real nice but something about it being in santa clara just doesn't seem right to me. 
 
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yeah,  ima have to most likely sit levi stadium out this season.  i'll be there for wrestlemania next year though.   
 
Late news, but worth discussing: the A's 10 year lease extension at the Coliseum has been postponed. Raiders proponents stepped forward to influence the vote delay and now it's really come down to the wire concerning who Oakland will choose to be loyal to.

As I've written before on this board, there is no hope for both teams to remain in Oakland as things stand. Lew Wolff's ownership group won't sell, Mark Davis won't sell, and neither side is happy to remain on the same plot of land with one another. City of Oakland needs to make a firm decision for one of them, or else they will lose both.

http://newballpark.org/2014/06/17/as-lease-extension-vote-postponed-aftermath/

Further, Mark Davis wants the A's gone from the Coliseum site by 2015.

http://newballpark.org/2014/06/20/davis-prefers-as-gone-from-coliseum-after-2015-season/

My gut feeling? Oakland chooses the Raiders over the A's. Again.
 
@Th3RealF0lkBlu3s  I meant to respond to that one piece you posted a month or so back but didn't get around to it. 

I still don't think it's down to an ultimatum between one franchise or the other AT ALL. 
 
I'd happily listen to a reason why Oakland can keep both. My first choice is to have them both stay, but from what I've researched it doesn't seem at all possible.
 
Mark Davis just got his bluff called.

City of Oakland and A's come to agreement on 10 year lease. A's state desire to build on Coliseum site for new stadium.

Mark Davis wanted the A's gone after 2015. Looks like he's going to have to figure out how to make LA work. Or sell the team to someone who can.
 
Th3RealF0lkBlu3s said:
Mark Davis just got his bluff called.

City of Oakland and A's come to agreement on 10 year lease. A's state desire to build on Coliseum site for new stadium.

Mark Davis wanted the A's gone after 2015. Looks like he's going to have to figure out how to make LA work. Or sell the team to someone who can.
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Unless Lew and the A's are jumping on board with Coliseum City...?
 
Th3RealF0lkBlu3s said:
Mark Davis just got his bluff called.

City of Oakland and A's come to agreement on 10 year lease. A's state desire to build on Coliseum site for new stadium.

Mark Davis wanted the A's gone after 2015. Looks like he's going to have to figure out how to make LA work. Or sell the team to someone who can.
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This extension has not been approved by the JPA, Oakland City Council, or County of Alameda, so not a done deal. They will vote on it tomorrow.
 
What are the plans for Oracle after the Warriors leave?

Keep it for concerts/etc? Demolish?

Is it feasible to demolish both Oracle and O.Co and build 2 new stadiums there for each?
 
Th3RealF0lkBlu3s said:
They've said their plans are incompatible with Coliseum City.
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I didn't know the A's had a plan...lol for the longest time they were sticking with San Jose, then people were pushing Howard Terminal but Lew wasn't having it, claiming it wouldn't work for the A's or for Oakland due to the train tracks or something...

Now all a sudden they have a plan for the Coliseum site?

If I was Mark Davis I'd feel ready to jam out...I don't think the A's really have a plan, and they'll stay put with what they currently have for 10 more years if this thing pulls through tomorrow...
 
According to Dr. Death, no vote took place today to ink the 10 year deal..lol I don't know what the hell that means...
 
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