LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas Raiders had an open practice in front of roughly 20,000 fans at Allegiant Stadium on Wednesday night and they got their first look at rookie guard Jackson Powers-Johnson. The second-round pick missed all of training camp with a concussion and will probably not open the season in the starting lineup as originally planned.
“He’ll be limited and … he has a few weeks before the (first) game,” coach Antonio Pierce said before practice. “To sit there and say, ‘He’ll probably be a starter Day 1.’ … Eh, probably not. But I think it’s always smart with rookies not to rush them.”
(Unless their name is Brock Bowers.)
Former Chicago Bears starter Cody Whitehair has stepped in and will continue to do so at left guard. Whitehair, 32 and a one-time Pro Bowler, is well versed in offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s system from their days together in Chicago and has been helping out the other Raiders offensive linemen all offseason.
Whitehair and the offense had a fairly good night Wednesday, with competing quarterbacks Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew II hitting deep passes to Davante Adams and Kristian Wilkerson, respectively. Bowers had his usual several catches, and DJ Turner continued his nice month, finding openings in the secondary and running away from tacklers.
You knew this was coming … pic.twitter.com/f9vdhZGOEa
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) August 15, 2024
Maxx Crosby chased both quarterbacks around as usual. Pierce now holds him out of some plays after the defensive end ruined several practices in Costa Mesa, Calif., and didn’t let the offense get some needed work in.
“It’s difficult when you have a player of his magnitude, the way he practices, the effort,” Pierce said. “I mean, that’s where he gets you at. When guys get tired — and everyone in the league, it happens to them — and all of a sudden on play six, here comes Maxx.
“But … there are certain plays we want to see, and sometimes you got to pull him off on those plays to get the look for the offense. I mean, he is that type of player now in his career where when he makes up his mind, he’s unblockable. And I think he understands that, and we understand that.”
Pierce said Crosby also understood how important it is to get the other defensive ends snaps with him off the field.
“Maxx has played over 1,000 snaps each and every year of his career,” Pierce said. “We’ve got to be smart, and Maxx has to be smart as he gets older. We need Tyree Wilson, we need those (Janarius) Robinsons, the Malcolm Koonces of the world to really step up.
“And the only way you feel that pressure is when you don’t have (No.) 98 the field.”
As for Adams, he is clearly more comfortable with O’Connell due to their time together last season and made several nice catches. After the deep pass, he held out his arms for the fans to take him in in all his glory.
Adams’ deep catch caps off another minute-long look at practice. pic.twitter.com/HLcyMWvw9W
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) August 15, 2024
Adams, who just returned Sunday from an absence due to the birth of his son, had said Tuesday that he prefers not to play in the preseason.
Not so fast, Pierce said, when asked about Saturday night’s game against the visiting Dallas Cowboys.
“If you’re healthy, you’ll play,” Pierce said.
Offensive tackle Thayer Munford Jr. might not play as he missed Wednesday’s practice with a finger injury. But for the rest of the players, getting in front of the home fans for the first time since January was a nice treat.
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“It was awesome just getting back in that environment,” safety Marcus Epps said. “Raider Nation showed out. We are all excited about getting that home stadium feel on that ride in — we’re anxious to get this thing going, We’re looking forward to the season and just trying to get better each day before then.”
Pierce thanked team president Sandra Douglass Morgan for putting the free event together. The Raiders will have another session at Allegiant next Tuesday.
“I think this is huge to make this home field advantage for us, and there’s a lot of people that can’t come to our home games because of the price, obviously,” Pierce said. “This is a great option for us to get in front of our fans, their energy, their passion, their love for the game … that really inspires our guys.”
It was another box checked in what Pierce said has been a very successful camp and preseason.
“We are getting a lot of good stuff out here … just everything that we’re building on from an offensive standpoint,” Pierce said. “Really helped us evaluate our team, and I think speed up our offense and its growth, because you’ve got so much film to go over, then you have walk throughs and corrections. So, I like where we’re headed as a coaching staff and the way we’ve been able to spoon-feed our players and not give them so much at a time and allow them to make plays.”
(Photo of Davante Adams from last season: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
