Pass rush a positive without Mack, Irvin
The Raiders wanted to add help on the defensive line this offseason for top pass rushers Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin.
With both absent Friday night, the complementary players created some pressure of their own.
With Mack still in a contract holdout and Irvin away on an excused absence, the Raiders’ pass rush generated five sacks in a 13-6 win, albeit against a Green Bay offense that did not play most of its starters.
Much of the impact came from players competing for roster spots. Defensive end Fadol Brown had 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. Fellow defensive end Shilique Calhoun recorded a sack and two tackles for loss, as did defensive tackle Treyvon Hester.
Rookie defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, a roster lock, added a half-sack. Fellow rookies P.J. Hall and Arden Key helped put pressure on quarterbacks Brett Hundley and DeShone Kizer.
“Yeah, they were getting around our edges a little bit,” Kizer said after the game. “It definitely required me to step up here and there.”
The Raiders got around edges at times with Mack and Irvin last season but had nobody to make quarterbacks pay for stepping up in the pocket.
“I think the edge rush is going to be better if the inside rush is better,” Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said Friday night. “I think that is what we’ve seen from the preseason.”
A beneficiary Friday was Brown, the second-year end who spent all of last season on Oakland’s practice squad. Brown played a team-high 50 defensive snaps and responded to that extended look with six combined tackles and three quarterback hits.
“Last season, the coaching staff didn’t really give me a chance,” Brown said after the game. “I just came out this year, had guys like Bruce, ( Justin Ellis), Mario (Edwards Jr.), older guys like that that have been around, pushing me every day. Got a new coaching staff and a chance to start off, get a fresh slate.”
Brown has trained in recent years with Chuck Smith, a former All-Pro defensive end who coaches some of the NFL’s top pass rushers in the Atlanta area. Smith has also worked with Irvin and Key, and mentioned Brown in a recent interview as a player people are “sleeping on.”
“The other cat, Fadol, got all them moves, too,” Smith said. “He can spin. He can swipe.”
Calhoun was a third-round pick in 2016 who was left off the 53-man roster at the start of last season. He wound up playing in nine games for the Raiders, mostly on special teams, and echoed Brown in saying he has adjusted well under the new coaching staff.
“I think the style of defense they run really fits me as a player,” Calhoun said. “It allows me to be aggressive. … Not staying back on your heels. Punch-you-in-the-mouth football.”
With Mack absent since the start of offseason workouts, Irvin has assumed a leadership role on the defense and particularly with some of the younger players. Though Irvin was absent Friday, Brown said the defensive line’s performance against Green Bay reflected his influence.
“I talk to Bruce just about every day,” Brown said. “He demands the most out of all of us — me, Shilique, all the young guys that are playing defensive end. Them guys just hold us to a criteria, to a standard. You’ve just got to come out and do your job.”