After two days off following Sunday's loss to the Broncos, the Raiders officially began their on-field preparation for their Week 11 match-up against the San Diego Chargers.
David Ausberry, Jonathan Dowling, DJ Hayden, Gabe Jackson, Jamize Olawale, Carlos Rogers, Justin Tuck and Menelik Watson did not participate in the afternoon session due to injury.
TJ Carrie was limited due to an ankle, but Interim Head Coach Tony Sparano seemed encouraged by the progress the rookie was making.
"Yeah, [Carrie] is moving around a lot better today than he did before the game on Sunday," said Coach Sparano. "Again, that's something that we'll see how it goes. Hopefully the time off from the game makes it a little bit stronger and he's a lot further ahead than he was last week at this point right now."
Following practice, Coach Sparano addressed a variety of topics, including how he himself is holding up going through the rigors of an NFL season.
"I'm doing really good," said Coach Sparano. "I told players today, I got up Monday morning and I was excited to get to work. Listen, we get a chance to coach football every single week. We get a chance to work with great guys every single week. I love this football team."
Rookie quarterback Derek Carr also held his weekly press conference on Wednesday, and in addition to previewing their game against the Chargers, he spoke about the current mood of the football team. "Coach Sparano has done such a great job with keeping our positivity and our moods up, in meetings, the way we practice, the way we fly around," he said. "Guys are running around and still striving to do whatever they can to make this thing right. Hopefully it'll be sooner than later, but like I said, it's going to happen one of these days and I'll be excited to be a part of it."
DL C.J. Wilson echoed Carr's statements and added that, from a defensive standpoint, he's seeing improvement from week to week.
"We see it in and out, and we as a defense are coming together and playing better," Wilson said. "Once we get this thing rolling, we're going to be going in the right direction and we're going in the right direction right now, we just need our first win."
The Raiders return to the practice field tomorrow to continue their preparation for their road match-up against the Chargers on Sunday.
