The Oakland Raiders officially wrapped up Training Camp 2016 Tuesday afternoon in Napa, but Saturday they held their final "training camp" practice of the preseason – albeit it back at their Alameda, Calif., practice facility.
"All right, good day back, good to get back to work," said Head Coach Jack Del Rio following practice. "It's really our last kind of camp-style day. This next week coming up, we'll simulate what a typical in-season work day looks like, typical in-season work week, what it looks like. So we'll take them through the paces this next week, how they get their information, all that kind of stuff. So, last of our camp days down here in Alameda."
As Head Coach Del Rio noted, now with the first two preseason games in the rearview mirror, the team has the chance to use the following week as a simulation of what a regular game week will look like, from team meetings, to practice, to even how pertinent information is distributed.
Del Rio is now entering his second season as head coach, and while many of the mechanisms for an in-game week will remain the same from last year, he did say that there would be some minor adjustments in 2016.
"Might be a tweak here or there," Head Coach Del Rio said. "It's good for us as coaches, too, how we put our game plan together, how we break an opponent down, all those things. We're simulating a game week in terms of when we meet, how we meet, what information we're going to give them, how they find their different cut ups and things. How we prepare as an organization for a typical game week, that's what we're going to simulation this week."
While the third preseason game is typically seen as the final dress rehearsal leading into the regular season, the Raiders find themselves in a unique situation, as they host the Tennessee Titans this week, but also play them again Week 3.
Because of that scheduling oddity, Head Coach Del Rio wasn't quite ready to divulge how he and his staff would be approaching Saturday's contest at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
"We'll see as we get there," said Head Coach Del Rio. "It's still a little early to give you an indication of that. That's typically how it goes in that third game. It should be a good opportunity for us to continue to grow as a football team and continue to work on some of the things that we need to work on. We're looking forward to it."
Notables:
-Unsurprisingly, defense end Mario Edwards Jr. and tight end Gabe Holmes were absent from Saturday's practice session, although rookie running back Jalen Richard was able to go through warmups with the team before heading to a side field to work with a trainer.
-Linebacker/defensive end James Cowser certainly made his presence felt during one of the team's periods devoted to the run game. The undrafted rookie from Southern Utah made a handful of plays, even finding himself in the backfield on one occasion.
-Wide receiver Amari Cooper has made a habit of making impressive catches look routine, and he did it again Saturday, hauling in a pass from quarterback Derek Carr before tumbling out of bounds and maintaining possession of the football as he went to the ground.
-During one of the team's 11-on-11 sessions, linebacker Bruce Irvin drove by the right tackle and caught Carr in the backfield for a would-be sack. Irvin has quietly gone about his business, and put together a quality first training camp in Silver and Black.
-Defensive back Keith McGill got into the action Saturday, meeting rookie running back DeAndre Washington in the flat, ensuring that he was taken down behind the line of scrimmage.
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