Raiders: Lynch ready to go in his offseason work
The Raiders started the helmet-wearing phase of their offseason workouts Monday, with the media allowed access Tuesday, but their newest star still will be easy to spot. Running back Marshawn Lynch is the one smiling ear to ear.
“He is having a ball, bouncing around like a little kid,” offensive tackle Donald Penn said. “I have known Marshawn for a while and he has always wanted to play for his hometown team. It’s a dream come true. For us, too, because he is going to help us win.”
Lynch came out of retirement to play for his favorite team growing up in Oakland. He would tell you himself that he is excited, but he turned down a chance to talk about that or answer any football questions when he was interviewed by The Chronicle last week.
Lynch didn’t often report to the Seahawks’ offseason workouts in Seattle, so his presence is itself a great sign for the Raiders. Oakland head coach Jack Del Rio said he is pleased with the 5-foot-11, 215-pound running back’s conditioning level, and general manager Reggie McKenzie said that Lynch has fit in particularly well.
“He’s been great. He’s been great in meetings, he’s been great on the field, he looks to be going very well as far as his progress physically on the field,” McKenzie told 95.7 FM. “He’s doing quite nicely, and we think he’s going to be a really good help on the field. Even that, off the field, he’s been great with the team. He’s meshed very well, he’s already well entrenched as being one of the guys.
“It’s going very well with him amongst the team.”
McKenzie talked to the team’s flagship station last week to address rumors that quarterback Derek Carr was unhappy with the progress of talks on his contract extension. Carr had said he wanted to get the extension done by the start of training camp, which is two months away, and the Raiders have every intention to send Brinks trucks to his address before then, so there’s no need to sweat that story line.
Carr is all the way back from a broken leg that derailed the Raiders after they were 12-3 last season. Penn also missed the first-round playoff loss to the Houston Texans and said the team is locked in on making some noise next postseason.
“We have the taste in our mouth,” said Penn, who is holding his sixth annual football camp for kids in Torrance (Los Angeles County) on June 3. “We know we won 12 games last year and there is a lot of talent on this team, but that doesn’t mean anything unless we work hard and prove that we’re good. And that’s what we’re doing.”
This is the sixth week of the team’s offseason program, but the first that the players can wear helmets and play 11on-11. After 10 sessions the next three weeks, there is a mandatory minicamp June 13-15.
It’s a chance for defensive draft picks Gareon Conley and Marquel Lee to impress coaches and teammates and show they should be in the mix for snaps once the season starts. Conley, who still has not been cleared from rape allegations, will be given numerous cornerback responsibilities, McKenzie told season-ticket holders in a conference call last week.
“I think the coaches have a big plan for Gareon,” McKenzie said. “Now, at this point, he’s going to back up until he can show himself in training camp, so he’ll back up the outside corner, and the nickelcorner positions, so he’s going to learn multiple cornerback positions. I’m sure he’ll be ready to roll come fall, and we’ll see where it goes once the competition starts.”
Lee, a fifth-round pick from Wake Forest, has an opportunity to make an immediate impact at a wide-open middlelinebacker spot. The Raiders didn’t re-sign Perry Riley Jr., and 24-year-olds Ben Heeney and Cory James couldn’t seize the opportunity when they were given starts last season. Oakland also signed weakside linebacker Jelani Jenkins.
“I don’t know that we’ve adequately addressed our middle-linebacker position, to be honest,” Del Rio told NFL Network. “I think we have some work to do there. The rest of our roster is pretty well situated, but we’ll be looking for a linebacker and we’ll continue to look, whether it’s the waiver wire, trades or available guys out there, veterans on the street. We’ll continue to look.
“The guys that are here, we’re going to develop and grow and hope we can take them to a higher level.”
Third-round pick Eddie Vanderdoes, meanwhile, won’t be participating for the next month. The defensive tackle isn’t done with classes at UCLA until June 16, and an NFL rule prohibits a player from getting on the field until his school’s academic year is over.