Linebackers in middle of position battle
When it comes to making decisions, some people have an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. The Raiders’ Tyrell Adams has two linebackers on his shoulders, one upset that he’s been overlooked most of his football career and the other, a slower, more introspective one who wonders if maybe people are right.
He’s worked hard to silence the doubt within, and he has a great opportunity to seize the moment Saturday night against the Cowboys and carve out a big role for himself at the middle linebacker position. Same with fifth-year veteran Jelani Jenkins.
The Raiders have handed fifth-round pick Marquel Lee the starting job from the first day of training camp, but he hasn’t played well the first two preseason games.
Adams, 25, signed with the Raiders in October after three stints with the Chiefs and two with the Seahawks. The undrafted free agent (2016) out of West Georgia finally cracked the roster in Oakland and played in six games for the Raiders.
“Saturday night is an opportunity to prove to myself that I can play in this league,” Adams said. “I have taken it up a step in my confidence level since I was in K.C. or Seattle. Coaches always told me that I had the ability, I just doubted myself a lot. They could see it on the field.
“I have worked hard to erase that aspect of my game. I have always been underrated and overlooked. I have shaken that doubt off this year.”
Jenkins must have had some doubt when he showed up at the team facility this spring. The former Dolphin showed up and saw Adams get all the first-team reps during offseason workouts and then saw Lee take over once training camp started.
Jenkins could have cleared his throat and reminded coaches that he was only defensive free agent signed this offseason. But that’s not his style. He’s slowly come on, and had a nice tackle for a loss against the Rams last week.
“Just taking it day by day,” Jenkins said. “I think the defense as a whole is just focusing on fixing our mental mistakes. I have a lot of experience, and just play hard every day and try and give the coaches a tough decision.”
As for Lee, the fifth-round pick out Wake Forest, the team has made him unavailable to the media the last two weeks so he can focus on football. That’s unusual for a non-injured player.
Coach Jack Del Rio didn’t agree with the premise that Lee had struggled — especially against the pass — in the first two preseason games.
“I think he’s actually done some pretty solid things,” Del Rio said. “He’s not the first linebacker to ever get exposed in man coverage, which happened last week. So, I think he’s actually been pretty solid. We have a pretty solid run front, and he’s part of that.”
Lee and other starters are expected to play into the third quarter Saturday in what is the big dress rehearsal for the regular season; most starters won’t play the preseason finale next week.
Del Rio is not really concerned about showing too much to the Cowboys, whom they play again in the regular season. That game is Dec. 17, so it’s different than last year when Oakland played Tennessee in the preseason and then again in Week 3.
“By the time we play them toward the end of the year, the last month of the year, we will have seen a lot of each other on tape,” Del Rio said. “So I don’t know that that’s as big of an issue as it was maybe against Tennessee, where we played them early.”
He and his staff will be looking for players, like his linebackers and backup quarterbacks, to win matchups and make plays. Winning is always better than losing, even in the preseason.
“This is a critical time in the evaluation stage,” Del Rio said, “really important looks for us to get as we round into the final chapter of the preseason, or leading up to it. A lot of important work ahead of us, but excited to go and compete.”