HENDERSON, Nev.—With training camp virtually in the books for the Las Vegas Raiders, only Thursday’s preseason finale against the San Francisco 49ers remains for players to make a statement.
Every player is feeling the pressure of the moment, culminating in a practice where the intensity started to ramp up by the end, and everyone is keenly aware that the next game after Thursday is when it begins to count.
For the running back room, that pressure doubled when Ashton Jeanty went down with an injury on Sunday. While later reports suggest that Jeanty had avoided the worst-case scenario, Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak did not provide much update on the second-year running back outside of saying that he was “on the mend.” Regardless of if Jeanty has to miss time, the opportunity is there for fourth-round rookie Mike Washington and others in the running back room to step up to the plate and make a strong final impression.
“I think [Mike’s] had a good camp,” said Kubiak on his impressions of Washington and the positional group.
“You’ll see him play really good football on Thursday but…we got a lot of other guys that have to step up. Dylan [Laube], we got [Roman] Hemby, we got Dare [Ogunbowale]. [Running backs coach] Omar [Young] has been doing a great job of coaching those guys and getting them ready.”
Meanwhile, Kubiak has also stressed the need for the receivers to make a difference. The head coach laid down the challenge after the previous game against the Texans that he is looking for someone in the room to make a difference and, even though tight end Brock Bowers is still the tip of the spear in the passing game, having other options would make a difference.
Even defensively, the Raiders are still always in the process of looking for answers. Between a young secondary readying themselves for a new season or players like Patrick Johnson making one final push onto the 53-man roster, the Raiders will be tasked with making some difficult decisions in the coming days.
“He’s getting turnovers, getting strip sacks, playing multiple positions,” Kubiak said about Johnson’s improvement over this preseason. “I think he’s a mature guy that had a really good game last week.”
However, while Kubiak and the rest of the Raiders are learning in a trial by fire, this is exactly why the team has brought in stabilizing forces both on the field and in the coaching staff.
Coaches like special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis and offensive line coach Rick Dennison are no strangers to football, with 65 years of coaching experience between the two. In the case of DeCamillis, his approach to special teams and Kubiak’s willingness to give him the opportunity to hammer home the lessons he wants has been a blessing. While the results have not been perfect on the field so far, the veteran coordinator has used that time to correct the fundamental mistakes so they do not happen when the games start to matter.
“I know we had some penalties last week and nobody’s sicker than me,” said DeCamillis, mentioning Kansei Matsuzawa’s landing zone violation and Decamerion Richardson running out of bounds.
“Those are the ones I’m upset about, but the holding calls, I look at them as teachable moments. You need to get that stuff on tape now so it doesn’t happen during the regular season, and that’s how we’re approaching it right now.”
Dennison and other members of the coaching staff have also been pivotal in fixing an offensive line that had its share of struggles last year. While facing the likes of Maxx Crosby every day in practice can pose its challenges, the group has responded relatively well so far, and the play on the field has looked much-improved over two preseason games.
“I think [Dennison’s] awesome. He’s a great coach,” said offensive lineman Jordan Meredith, also highlighting the work of offensive run game coordinator Mario Jeberaeel, assistant offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson and offensive quality control coach Pete Collins in turning things around.
“You can tell that they know what they’re looking for. The coaching points, they’ve done it before. Whether it’s scheme or technique, they’re really on it and it’s been a breath of fresh air getting that.”
Meanwhile, for the rookies completing their first training camp, this final preseason game marks another opportunity to show how much they have grown from rookie minicamp right after the draft to now.
“I’ve just grown a lot coming from college, being in the NFL, being in a professional environment,” said rookie defensive tackle Brandon Cleveland. “It’s just a lot of different ways to grow just on the field and off the field.”
With roster cutoff day approaching and Week One against the Miami Dolphins on the horizon, the Raiders will relish this final chance to show their improvement firsthand before getting the regular season underway.