Undrafted rookie making impression
Nicholas Morrow doesn’t get nervous, for a simple reason.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” the Raiders’ rookie linebacker said Monday.
It hasn’t sunk in yet that he is playing in NFL stadiums, in front of big crowds, with a chance to make Oakland’s 53-man roster.
“I look up and it doesn’t seem real to me,” Morrow said.
Morrow played college football at Division III Greenville College, outside St. Louis, in front of crowds of about 200 people.
“Two hundred might be high, even,” he said, smiling. “And that included the band.”
Morrow was the big man on campus at Greenville, a linebacker/safety whom the coach designed the whole defense around. “Now I am an ant,” he said. A very fast ant. The 6-foot, 216-pound Morrow had four tackles in Saturday’s game in Dallas, and two came on special teams — which may be his
ticket onto the team.
“Everyone is obviously bigger than me, but my speed translates at this level,” Morrow said. “I can still outrun some people and make some plays.”
That’s what happened in college the first time someone mentioned the NFL to him. It was an official after a play in which Morrow stripped the ball loose and then ran it back for a touchdown.
Morrow got a break in training camp when second-round pick Obi Melifonwu got hurt. He was supposed to cover tight ends, so the Raiders first tried cornerback Sean Smith lining up inside in a hybrid role. After Smith struggled in the preseason, the Raiders turned to Morrow.
He almost had an interception against the Rams in the second game, and the coaches like his raw potential.
“The guy shows up when the lights come on,” said defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. “Nothing is too big for him. Really good on special teams, so we like where he is, and again, the evaluation process still continues.”
Morrow, an offensive lineman until his senior year in high school, would be the first NFL player from Greenville. And there is one thing that gives him hope:
“I haven’t played my best football yet,” Morrow said. “I can see that when I watch the film and listen to the coaches.” Conley on Tuesday? Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said he didn’t know yet whether cornerback Gareon Conley, the team’s first-round pick out of Ohio State, would be back at practice Tuesday after missing training camp. Conley has missed the first three preseason games with a shin injury but is making good progress. “When they give me the green light, he’ll go,” Del Rio said.