Passing game is coming together
Crabtree finds practice work is paying off
Practice makes perfect, and so does the preseason, Michael Crabtree hopes.
The Raiders’ receiver beat Tennessee Titans cornerback Antwon Blake by a step, maybe a step and a half, and Derek Carr dropped the ball in for a 41-yard completion in the first quarter Saturday night.
“I think he couldn’t have thrown it any better,” Crabtree said.
The completion is Oakland’s longest pass play of the preseason, and Crabtree and the rest of the offense look ready for the season opener on Sept. 11. Amari Cooper also caught a nice deep pass from Carr, a 29yarder on which Cooper got both feet down in the end zone for the score.
“It’s because of a lot of practice,” Crabtree said. “We’ve been practicing the go-ball and really all the routes.”
This is Carr’s, Crabtree’s and Cooper’s second year in offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave’s system, and Crabtree said, “The sky is the limit for us.
“That is always good, that team chemistry, two years back-to-back,” Crabtree said. “This program has not really had the same coordinator, same coach, same players for two years, so that is all good for those guys. I am just ready to put it all together and go out here and play. We got one more preseason game and then (it’s) on.”
Carr and his two star receivers, who combined for 1,992 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, won’t play in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Seahawks. But that doesn’t mean they won’t be busy this week.
“It’s just rep after rep,” Carr said. “I get on Crabtree all the time because in one-on-ones all he wants to do is run go routes. I said, ‘Crab, you
know we’re going to have to throw something else someday,’ and he just laughs, but you see the hard work paying off.
“It’s good to see. Hitting those is just reps.”
Carr has a year under his belt with Crabtree and Cooper, and two and three years, respectively, with backup receivers Seth Roberts and Andre Holmes. Each requires different things from his quarterback.
“Seeing where they like the ball,” Carr said. “A guy like Andre, I might throw a little different than I would to Cooper. I throw it different to Crab than Coop. It’s just there’s different ways that guys like it and how they want to play off the defender, and you just have to learn those things.”
Of the touchdown pass to Cooper, Carr said the receiver has put in extensive hours on making those kind of contested catches in the back of the end zone.
“He’s worked really hard knowing where the out of bounds is and doing those things,” Carr said. “He knows exactly where he’s at. He catches it, puts the two down … deliberately. He’s taking the coaching that (receivers) coach (Rob) Moore is giving him and what he sees on film and he’s putting it to use.
“When you see stuff like that, it’s like, ‘Man, guys are really taking hold of what they need to do better,’ and that was a perfect example. The signs are looking good, but obviously when the real ones count, we’ll see.” “Coach wants to see you”: The Raiders will announce 15 cuts Monday to get down to the 75-man roster limit. Seventeen non-injured players didn’t play in Saturday’s game, so no surprises are expected. Teams then must cut down to 53 players by Saturday.
“I am just ready to put it all together and go out here and play.” Michael Crabtree