Linebacker Irvin welcomes Raiders’ rookies
A few of the Raiders’ draft picks said linebacker Bruce Irvin stopped by the team’s Alameda practice facility to meet them Friday, the first day of rookie minicamp.
Those included P.J. Hall and Maurice Hurst, the two defensive tackles the Raiders hope will help improve their interior pass rush. Irvin, apparently, made sure to repeat that objective.
“He said it’ll help him out a lot, him and the other edge rushers,” Hall said. “For them to have that pressure down the middle will help them play better, and actually help us also.”
Irvin and Khalil Mack accounted for 18.5 of the Raiders’ 31 sacks last season (24th in the NFL). All of the returning linemen on their roster combined for four.
Hall, a second-round pick from Sam Houston State, and Hurst, a fifth-rounder from Michigan, represent an attempt to bolster the defensive front.
“We felt they were the top two inside rushers in the draft,” head coach Jon Gruden said Friday.
Hurst was considered one of the draft’s top defensive linemen after his final season at Michigan, but a heart condition diagnosed at the NFL combine led to his fall to the fifth round.
Following his first Raiders practice Friday, Hurst reiterated he has “no concern whatsoever” about his health and hoped to turn his attention to the field.
“Just trying to get all that stuff behind me, try to get people to stop talking about it as some sort of issue or all those kinds of things,” Hurst said. “Just try to move past that and focus on playing football and just having fun out there.”
Hurst reportedly was diagnosed with a heart condition as a freshman at Michigan but later said he was cleared by doctors at both Michigan and Harvard and did not miss a game in college. The Raiders traded up in the fifth round to No. 140 to select Hurst, a consensus All-American in his final college season.
Gruden on Friday answered in clipped tones when asked about the tackle’s health.
“I’m not going to answer any more health questions on Hurst,” Gruden said. “I realize there are a lot of ghost stories out there about unnamed sources that have their opinion on why we shouldn’t have drafted him. This man played at Michigan. I know the head coach there. They looked after him carefully.
“We’re happy to have him in any round. He’s a great kid. And I hope you just judge him on the field. He’s been cleared medically, and I’ll just leave it at that.”
Gruden classified Friday as more of an “orientation” for some of the Raiders’ higher draft picks, but they were on the field for position drills. At one point, Hurst, Hall and defensive end Arden Key (third round) lined up together, practicing their first step under a coach’s instruction.
“I definitely do get a feel of how (Hurst) moves,” said Hall, who had 42 sacks in college. “He’s really explosive, just like I would say I am. So I feel like it will be a very good combo in the years to come.”