Penn has new script to write on right side
Veteran offensive lineman adjusts to new position as top pick Miller mans left
NAPA >> Donald Penn has been around long enough to know how the system works.
“I’m not stupid. I’m not dumb. I’m 35 years old,” Penn said Tuesday following his first practice at Raiders training camp. “I understand what’s going on here.”
As Penn was agreeing to a restructured contract, the Raiders floated the idea of playing some right tackle. Penn, who has 170 NFL starts and three Pro Bowls on the left side, said he’d do whatever was asked.
And on Tuesday, Penn came off the physically unable to perform
list and found himself as the firstteam right tackle. He wasn’t eased into it, either. Penn took every firstteam snap and participated in pass blocking drills in a padded practice.
“The first time we went out there he went to the left side,” quarterback Derek Carr said. “We kind of just looked at him and waited.”
The Raiders’ intentions are clear. Kolton Miller, the first-round draft pick from UCLA, will be the starting left tackle unless he’s injured or struggles against the NFL’s elite pass rushers.
On the right side, veteran Breno Giacomini has been out more than two weeks with a sore knee, Ian Silberman has moved from guard to tackle, second-year player David Sharpe needs experience and rookie third-round pick Brandon Parker has been hurt and missed practice time.
That makes Penn the likely starter at right tackle, and gives the Raiders some experienced insurance if they need him at left tackle.
“Today it felt awkward and rusty,” Penn said. “I need time to develop. I don’t know if it’s going to be a permanent thing or not yet. I told ’em I’m all for it. We’ve got a young kid over there, he’s doing a lot of good things.”
Before Tuesday, Penn’s only experience at right tackle came in an emergency situation in the 2016 regularseason opener against the New Orleans Saints. With Menelik Watson and Vadal Alexander injured by midgame, the Raiders needed Penn to switch to the right side, with left guard Kelechi Osemele moving to left tackle.
“I was out there battling, holding on for dear life,” Penn recalled. “It was tough.”
This time, Penn has until Sept. 10 to gain a level of comfort with the right side, having to flip the script on footwork and play calls which have been second-nature for the past 12 seasons.
“I almost went the wrong way,” Penn said. “I was thinking left side when (Carr) audibled and luckily Gabe (Jackson) reminded me and I snapped into it right before the snap. That’s part of the timing and part of the stuff that’s going to take a little bit of time. I’m out here working. These guys have been working their butt off. I’ve been watching them and I wanted to try and hop in and not miss a beat.”
The Raiders signed Penn as a free agent in 2014 after they allowed left tackle Jared Veldheer leave to Arizona in free agency. Their planned replacement, Rodger Saffold, agreed to terms on a contract but failed a physical because of a shoulder injury (he later needed surgery after re-signing
with the Rams).
Penn bailed out the Raiders in a big way, providing blind-side protection for Carr during his rookie season through last year.
One of the reasons Penn signed with the Raiders and not Washington was talk of moving him to the right side. Penn believed moving to the right was Washington’s way of telling him he was slipping, and he still considered himself a left tackle.
Penn, who held out of training camp last year to bring his salary more in line with the top left tackles, felt differently about the move this year in part because of a Lisfranc injury and foot surgery that made for his most difficult offseason.
“I had a lot of down days where I had to pick myself up,” Penn said. “This is my first major injury, and I’m thinking I’m going to come back fast. It didn’t happen like that. I had to really sit back and have some humble pie.”
An extra serving of that pie arrived when the Raiders made Miller their first draft pick, No. 15 overall.
Penn got over it, and eventually agreed to a contract restructure. Terms were not disclosed, but it is believed Penn’s salary of $6 million was reduced, while he received more guaranteed money over the course of the next two seasons.
Since Miller arrived, Penn has been in his ear with advice, and he was conspicuous on the sideline conversing with Miller during the preseason opener against the Giants.
“Me and Kolton, we’re developing a good friendship,” Penn said. “It’s not like I’m over here jealous. I’m trying to help the kid out so he can be as good as possible because it’s going to help us out as at eam. I’m not one of those veteran guys that (says), ‘Oh, he’s taking my spot.’ I’m all in.” LAMUR GRABS SECOND INTERCEPTION >> Late in Tuesday’s practice during
an 11-on-11 period, Lamur plucked a Connor Cook pass out of midair and took it to the house for six. Granted, Cook might have tackled the linebacker if it was a real game and Lamur was a real opponent, but the entire defense paraded at Lamur’s side to the end zone nonetheless.
Tuesday’s interception was Lamur’s second of camp. He picked off Lions starting quarterback Matthew Stafford during last Tuesday’s joint practice, too. In the last week, Lamur has matched his career regular-season interception total.
Lamur has started only 15 of 71 games he’s played in during his five-year career. He played under Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther in Cincinnati, and knows Guenther’s system well. He’s currently a contender to start at strongside linebacker, according to Oakland’s first unofficial depth chart, and should assume a larger role in 2018 than what he’s shouldered in the past.
BRYANT OUT WITH ‘HEADACHE’ >> Martavis Bryant, who the Raiders traded a third-round pick for during April’s draft, wasn’t on the field for the second consecutive day. The wide receiver missed Monday’s practice with a headache, coach Jon Gruden said, and he was seen walking around the side field well after Tuesday’s practice in a hoodie and sunglasses, his same outfit as before Monday’s practice
Bryant missed one practice earlier in training camp with an “illness,” according to Gruden, and now the talented wideout hoping to carve out a role as the No. 3 receiver for the Raiders has missed a trio of training camp sessions. Bryant caught one pass for 18 yards in his preseason debut last Friday night against the Lions.