Gruden enforces strict huddle rules
One of the louder moments of Raiders practice Monday followed a huddle break by the offense that met with head coach Jon Gruden’s disapproval.
Gruden ordered the offense in no uncertain terms to return and break the huddle again. Although backup quarterback Connor Cook was the recipient of Gruden’s ire, it wasn’t the first time this offseason the coach has vented his frustration at the pre-snap ritual.
Later, Gruden explained why he finds breaking the huddle important.
“Nobody huddles, nobody communicates anymore,” Gruden said. “If you watch high school and college and a lot of the pro teams, they never get in the huddle.
“When we get in there, we have to convey a lot of information. When we get out of there, we have to break the huddle together and crisply so we can get lined up and get moving. I put that on the center and quarterback.”
In his first coaching stint, Gruden was known for the complex wording of his play calls — and for chiding quarterbacks who failed to recite them correctly in the huddle.
Quarterback Derek Carr said Tuesday that Gruden’s calls remain “wordy, for sure.” Carr has to get the wording right to make sure that everyone in the huddle knows the formation and play. Carr also is expected to have freedom to change plays at the line this season — meaning he needs to break the huddle quickly enough to get to the line and survey the defense.
Carr said Gruden shows him the beginnings of plays in meetings and asks him to deliver the play calls, and the practice helps when it’s time to relay calls in the huddle.
“Just reading the scripts, saying things over and over again, walking down the halls and calling the play to a lineman saying, ‘What do you got?’ That helps me to spit it out faster,” Carr said.
“You can see why some ex-quarterbacks that played with him didn’t get along, because he’s going to get on you if you do it wrong. So, don’t call it wrong, you know what I mean?” Injury report: The Raiders were without several defensive backs Tuesday. Cornerback Daryl Worley, who left the field early Monday after a collision with Rashaan Melvin, did not practice but was exercising in an adjacent workout area. Safeties Marcus Gilchrist (foot) and Obi Melifonwu, whom Gruden said has a “flare-up” of a lower body injury, also did not practice.
Gilchrist worked to the side with a trainer along with offensive linemen Breno Giacomini and Jordan Simmons, defensive linemen Fadol Brown and Eddie Vanderdoes and receiver Seth Roberts. Receiver Martavis Bryant, absent Monday with what Gruden termed “a headache,” missed a second straight day.