Through camp, back on message
He might not have spoken to reporters until the last day of training camp Thursday, but Marshawn Lynch invariably could be heard. Before, during and after practices, the Raiders’ running back would chirp at teammates, fans or even the media at times, with a mischievous smile.
Lynch wouldn’t discuss Thursday why he sat down during the national anthem before Saturday’s game at Arizona. Reporters asked him three times, once referring to the “elephant in the room.”
“I think the elephant left the room because a little mouse ran in here,” Lynch said. “Didn’t they say elephants are scared of mice or something? That mother— left, cousin.”
The Raiders packed up Thursday afternoon after 18 days in Napa, and the memories that linger will be of the tight ends making plays, the injured and holdout players, and of Lynch doing whatever he wanted.
With fans in attendance yelling, “Beast Mode!” every step of the way, some of Lynch’s highlights included: Making fun of quarterback
Raiders cornerback Sean Smith was arrested Thursday on a felony assault charge for allegedly stomping on a man’s head in the early hours of July 4 in Pasadena.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office alleges Smith “beat and then stomped” the head of his sister’s boyfriend in an incident that “inflicted great bodily injury upon the victim.”
Smith also faces a felony count of battery with serious bodily injury.
Defense attorney Daniel Rosenburg said Smith will enter a plea of not guilty. The arraignment is scheduled Sept. 29 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Pasadena Branch.
Smith, who did not attend the team’s last day of training camp in Napa on Thursday morning, was in a Pasadena jail Thursday night with bail set at $80,000.
Smith faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison if convicted.
The Raiders, who host the Los Angeles Rams in a preseason game Saturday night, did not return phone calls.
Smith, 30, started 15 games last season after signing a fouryear, $38 million contract in 2016. He struggled at training camp and in the preseason opener last week after briefly being demoted to the second team last week. Vic Tafur is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vtafur@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VicTafur