COSTA MESA, Calif. — It’s fair to say that quarterbacks Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew have struggled the last two and a half weeks at Las Vegas Raiders training camp.
And it could seem to the casual observer that not much really happened here at Jack Hammett Farm Sports Complex. Frankly, the lineups on offense and defense are pretty much set.
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But coach Antonio Pierce accomplished his two main goals. When the team has its final walk-through practice on a nearby beach Thursday afternoon and breaks training camp, it will leave an extremely close and more determined bunch.
“We have grit and we’re tough,” Pierce said. “We’ve had close to 800 team reps. These guys haven’t blinked, there’s been no complaining … we don’t have guys trying to get out of practice. We’ve got a mentally tough team and we’ve got a team that is pissed off and wants to prove a lot of people wrong.”
🔴📽️ Live: Coach Antonio Pierce addresses the media during 2024 Training Camp. https://t.co/BKcfmkrG4l
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) August 7, 2024
Pierce said that he expects the quarterback battle to ratchet up on Saturday in the preseason opener at Minnesota. Thus far, O’Connell and Minshew have been a little rough to watch. There have been a lot of turnovers, especially this past week. Some of that is likely the result of the offensive line — missing two starters, mind you — going against one of the better defensive lines in the league. The Raiders also are installing a new offense.
Yet even on their completed passes, O’Connell and Minshew are not hitting receivers in stride.
The good thing is that the bar for the quarterbacks is not that high. They’ll be expected to largely hand the ball off to the running backs, throw quick passes and hit an occasional play-action pass for an explosive play. There are going to be plenty of receivers open, from Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers to tight ends Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer.
Bowers, the team’s No. 1 draft pick, has been as advertised: a tough kid with great hands and the ability to turn upfield after a catch and explode past linebackers and safeties. Mayer has also had a great camp. He credits yoga for being looser and faster, and he is playing with a ton of confidence.
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“They’ve been crushing it,” offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said. “Those guys are awesome, and then the more flexibility that they give us, the better we’re going to be.”
Meyers and Bowers made Pierce’s list of camp standouts, but Mayer surely was an oversight. Pierce also had said recently that the combination of Maxx Crosby and free agent signee Christian Wilkins was even better than he had imagined.
(Pierce’s list of standouts: receiver DJ Turner, tackle DJ Glaze, the entire offensive line, defensive tackle Adam Butler, defensive end Malcolm Koonce, Crosby, rookie linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, cornerback Jack Jones, the safeties, kicker Daniel Carlson and punter AJ Cole.)
Crosby and the defensive line ruined plenty of drills for the offense. Butler didn’t get a lot of interest in free agency after getting five sacks and eight tackles for loss as part of the Raiders’ rotation last year, and he took that personally. Byron Young, a third-round pick a year ago, came to camp in good shape and made some plays. Tyree Wilson, a first-round pick last year, had a slow start to camp but he had a couple of quarterback pressures against the second team in Saturday’s live-tackling scrimmage.
There is a lot of talent and nastiness on that front line.
“It’s going to be a show,” 12th-year defensive tackle John Jenkins said.
Linebacker Divine Deablo bulked up last season, but he is leaner again and his speed has been evident on the practice field.
There is speed all over the roster, and while Jones was probably the biggest star of camp with numerous interceptions, second-year cornerback Jakorian Bennett frustrated opposing quarterbacks and receivers with his speed and physicality. There is still a month to go, but he seems to have a big lead on Brandon Facyson for the other starting spot.
Not the one to play with 🚫#RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/eXpZtBibhS
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) August 7, 2024
The Raiders defense knows it will have to carry the load if this team is to earn a playoff spot, and they are cool with that. Coaches and teammates think players like Jones and slot cornerback Nate Hobbs are ready to become impact players. The same goes for Butler, Bennett and several others trying to crack the starting lineup.
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Players “are seeing an opportunity to raise their lot and get more playing time, maybe become a starter or a role player,” assistant head coach Marvin Lewis said. “Watching what Malcolm Koonce did at the end of the year, I think everybody looks around and says, ‘Man, look what Malc did. I can do that,’ and I think that’s really important, and I think that’s the atmosphere that’s been created throughout the football team.”
The Raiders will return to Las Vegas after the game against the Vikings. Adams will return to the team after his wife gives birth to their third child. And, ideally, offensive linemen Kolton Miller and Jackson Powers-Johnson will return from the physically unable to perform list.
And, yes, the quarterbacks can only improve in the next month.
But the Raiders will look back on their time in Costa Mesa with fondness.
“We built some confidence,” Wilkins said.
Even more, Pierce said, the Raiders “set the tone, built our identity on defense, special teams and offense, played with physicality and, more importantly, the chemistry and the team bonding is what we wanted. And the competition has been at a high.”
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(Photo of Maxx Crosby: Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
Vic Tafur is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Las Vegas Raiders and the NFL. He previously worked for 12 years at the San Francisco Chronicle and also writes about boxing and mixed martial arts. Follow Vic on Twitter @VicTafur
