Tight-lipped Raiders receivers let their play do the talking
Maybe the reason Raiders wide receivers have so little to say is they’re too busy focusing on where they’re supposed to line up.
As position groups go, the Raiders’ wide outs are unusually quiet. Amari Cooper’s media session this week lasted all of two minutes and Michael Crabtree will exchange pleasantries but won’t engage in meaningful discourse of any kind unless it’s with a teammate.
Seth Roberts tends to be reserved and serious, with Cordarrelle Patterson the only outwardly chatty member of a unit that also includes second-year man Johnny Holton.
“The coolest part to me is that our guys sit there in meetings, attentive, ready to learn what’s next, what’s the game plan,” quarterback Derek Carr said. “When we hit the field, it’ll be at full speed. It’s cool to have the weapons and all that, but the cool thing to me is what we do not even on Sundays, but in the days leading up.”
Considering the way offensive coordinator Todd Downing deploys his receivers, paying attention is a must.
The Raiders line up with three wide receivers more times than not, and sometimes four And rather than have set roles for each member of the unit, they could conceivably lineup anywhere and on either side of the field.
Crabtree, most often an outside receiver, has plays from the slot. So does Cooper. Roberts, who gets lots of slot repetitions, also lines up outside. Same goes for Patterson, who is even lining up in the backfield in spread formations occasionally as running back.
Rather than condense the amount of offense to simplify things, Raiders receivers, as taught by wide receivers coach Rob Moore and offensive assistant Nick Holz, are expected to understand it all.
“RobMoore does a great job with NickHolz at training our guys to be concept football players,” Downing said. “You have to learn the concept in our offense. You can’t learn one spot on the receiving tree. That way we can run similar concepts and still move guys around.
“It’s a fun part of what we do here and we’re ready pleased with the way the guys have handled it.”
Film study is essential, as is occasionally staying after practice. During games, with the Raiders mixing in tight ends and running backs, players are coming and going between plays on every snap.
Through two games it has been seamless, with Carr not having had to call a time out because the wrong personnel is on the field.
“A lot of the intellectual side of that comes from working in the film room and the classroom with the coaches, but also getting on the field and being willing to put in a little extra time after practice to maybe run a route that you didn’t get to run in practice that day,” Downing said. “It’s a lot of dedication from those guys.”
In terms of play time percentage, Cooper (109 of 123) is the leader at 88.6 percent, followed by Roberts (89 of 123) at 72.3, Crabtree at (82 of 123) at 66.7, Patterson (50 of 123) at 40.7. Holton, primarily a special teams gunner, has five snaps on offense in two games.
• Defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. was enthused by the play of strong safety Karl Joseph, as well as that of rookie Gareon Conley—two young defenders the Raiders are counting on to be playmakers.
“If you watch him closely, you see his development has been really nice,” Norton said of Joseph. “He was very active last week. He’s really good close to the line of scrimmage. He’s a really good tackler in the open field. He also plays well in the back end. I think his development is right on time now.”
Of Conley, who performed well in his debut, Norton said, “We’ve bee waiting a long time to get Gareon on the field . . . it’s good to see a young player start off really good like that because it’s good for his confidence. Now there’s no limits to how good he can be.”
• Every player on the 53-man roster practiced for the second consecutive day Thursday. Cornerback Gareon Conley (shin), tight end Jared Cook (shoulder), Cooper ( knee), cornerback Sean Smith (neck) and running back DeAndre Washington ( hamstring) were listed as limited. Safety Keith McGill (foot) and fullback Jamize Olawale were full participants and could see their first action of the season.
For Washington, tight end Jordan Reed was limited with a rib and sternum injury after sitting out practice Wednesday. Coach Jay Gruden expects the decision won’t be made until Sunday.