Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
One week later and 9 Raiders free agents still unemployed
A great many departing Raiders found new homes over the past week. Some were re-signed to the team as well. You can all the team’s additions, retentions, and subtractions right here in our free agency tracker.
But not all of those who were a member of the Raiders a week ago have found a landing spot yet. Specifically these nine.
Raiders LT Kolton Miller, LB Dylan Parham both returned to practice Thursday
Just yesterday the Raiders were missing their starting left side of the offensive line. Today it looks like there’s hope both could play Sunday in Miami.
Left tackle Kolton Miller (shoulder) and left guard Dylan Parham (calf) took the practice field today. Also returning to practice were cornerback Amik Robertson (concussion) and linebacker Curtis Bolton (illness).
In other words, they got everybody back.
#Raiders got errbody back today. LT Kolton Miller, LG Dylan Parham, CB Amik Robertson, and LB Curtis Bolton pic.twitter.com/Gj4G411y2T
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) November 16, 2023
Miller missed last week with his shoulder injury. His return would be the most significant. Robertson’s return is probably the most surprising considering he was knocked completely unconscious Sunday night against the Jets. Miller, Parham and Robertson were all still limited in Thursday’s practice.
For the Dolphins, several players missed practice for the second straight day including WR Chase Claypool, OL Rob Hunt, and OL Rob Jones.
QB Jimmy Garoppolo missed practice Wednesday with a concussion
As the Raiders prepare for their Week three matchup with the Chargers, they did so without their quarterback, who is in the concussion protocol.
Jimmy Garoppolo misses practice with concussion. #Raiders pic.twitter.com/Iu5rOCBQmd
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) September 27, 2023
Garoppolo played until the final snap for the Raiders in Sunday night’s loss to the Steelers, so it’s hard to say when exactly he suffered the concussion. The Raiders initially had him taking the podium after the game, but after waiting some time for him to come in, a Raiders official told us he would not be coming as he was being examined for a concussion.
Taking his reps in practice was veteran backup Brian Hoyer.
Also missing for the Raiders was special teams maven Curtis Bolton who left at half time of Sunday night’s game with a knee injury.
There were seven players missing from Chargers practice. How serious any of them are will become clearer Thursday when we see who was just getting a day of rest.
Your Ballers & Busters for the Raiders’ second preseason game vs Rams
Another preseason in the books. And while the joint practices were probably more useful to the starters than the game — because many didn’t play and most of those who did saw just one drive — the roster hopefuls rely on it as a proving ground. Not just for the Raiders, but any other team that may be watching.
For that reason, it gives the Raiders a lot to think about. Obviously because they want to keep the best players, but also because they don’t want to risk another team scooping them up on waivers.
In that regard, the performances in the game means something. Whether it’s those who balled out or those whose performance was a bust. In other words…
He’s two for two this preseason as the Raiders’ top Baller. This week he played the entire second half and was nearly flawless doing it. He threw for 163 yards on 11 of 18 passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The fourth round rookie is developing quite a following this early on and deservedly so.
With Josh McDaniels saying Kolton Miller was a bit banged up, he moved Eluemunor from right to left and started Munford on the right side. And the two formed a wall for half the game.
The first drive of the game was led by Jimmy Garoppolo. The Raiders marched down the field 70 yards for the score. Along the way Munford was a key block on a ten-yard run, Eluemunor cleared the way for Zamir White to pick up the first and goal on third and one, and the next play Munford was part of the escort for Brandon Bolden to score from seven yards out.
There were several time Brian Hoyer held the ball much longer than you’d have liked. But because of Eluemunor and Munford, he only paid for it once. Two other times, he sat in the pocket comfortably until he found his man for completions of 17 yards and 43 yards.
Those completions of 17 and 43 yards both went to Dorsett on consecutive plays near the end of the first half. Two plays later, his man was flagged for pass interference trying to keep Dorsett from beating him for another catch. And it led to a field goal.
But that’s not where Dorsett’s day stared. He had the first catch of the game from Garoppolo on the opening touchdown drive. He got a step on his man on a deep ball on the next drive, but the pass was behind him so it was knocked down.
Carter was impressive because he had nice plays in three different areas. He laid a clear out block on the first touchdown. Then at the end of the first quarter, he had a 31-yard punt return before just barely getting pushed out of bounds near midfield, and finally he had a nine-yard catch. Check those three boxes. We already know about his deep speed.
As you might expect, this special teams maven made his first play of the game in the return game, getting down the field on coverage teams to make the stop at the 24-yard-line. He would make another special teams tackle later in the game.
In the second quarter, he was in on defense and made a run stop for no gain despite the defender grabbing his face mask.
In the third quarter he had a tackle on a short catch and a tackle for loss that was nullified by a holding penalty on the defense.
The undrafted rookie showed some great instincts and tackling abilities. He entered the game on defense in the third quarter and finished with a team leading 10 combined tackles, including four run stops of two yards or less and a tackle for loss and two tackles on special teams.
The O’Connell/Cole connection was clicking in the second half. For five catches on six targets for 60 yards. That included a 21-yards hookup on O’Connell’s first touchdown drive and catches of 11 yards and 17 yards on third and nine on his second TD drive.
S Isaiah Pola-Mao — Was in the right position to haul in an interception which he returned 50 yards for a TD.
G Greg Van Roten — Gave up no run stuffs or pressures while being a key block on the Brandon Bolden TD run to end the first drive.
WR Cam Sims — Made an impressive leaping touchdown grab along the right side of the end zone, dragging his toes to secure it. There’s value in being able to make catches like that.
Your Ballers & Busters for Raiders preseason preseason opener
Sunday the Raiders took the field for the first time since the end of last season. And just as they did last preseason, there wasn’t much in the way of starters on the field.
Yeah, unlike years ago when the starters would at least play a series in the opener, these days they don’t see the field at all, making the preseason games all about the hopefuls proving themselves to try and earn a roster spot.
With that in mind, here are the standouts among those who took the field against the 49ers.
The rookie balled out for three quarters. He completed 15 of 18 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. And two of his three incompletions were drops. Very impressive first impression for the fourth round pick out of Purdue.
The two of them shared a sack on third down to force the 49ers into a three-and-out to open the game. And then they were both forces on the outside the rest of their time on the field.
Willis had a pressure on the next drive that also resulted in a three-and-out and then Rochell had a pressure that helped lead to a sack on the 49ers third consecutive three-and-out to start the game.
Willis ended consecutive drives to end the first half. With a run stuff for no gain on 4th down and then a QB hit that resulted in a bad pass to send the two teams to the locker room with the Raiders holding a 14-7 lead.
The first 49ers possession of the third quarter had Rochell wreaking havoc on them. He got in the backfield to disrupt the play on a one yard run, then had two run stuffs for no gain.
Fotheringham was all over the place. First and foremost, he was the team’s leading receiver with 71 yards on five catches. Knowing that his best chance of making the roster will be with his special teams work, he had a tackle on a punt return as well. And for good measure, he had a couple of run blocks that led to good yardage too.
The first tackle of the game was Bolton on the opening kickoff. Late in the third quarter, he came in at linebacker and made a impact there too. He laid the hit that forced the fumble for the Raiders’ first takeaway of the day. Then he ended Sam Darnold’s day with a couple blitzes that both led to incompletions and a 58-yard field goal attempt that missed wide right.
With the score still tied at seven apiece late in the second quarter, the 49ers lined up to go for it on fourth and one. Jordan Willis would get the run stuff at the line, but it was Farrell who filled the gap to make it possible. Farrell was there again on fourth and one early in the third quarter to stuff Sam Darnold on his QB sneak attempt for another turnover on downs.
On consecutive plays late in the first quarter, Butler got into the 49ers backfield. The first time, Trey Lance managed to escape, though he was only able to scramble for two yards. The next play Butler got pressure again, this time he wrapped up Lance for the sack. Butler later had a run stop as well.
As Roderic “Special” Teamer is want to do, he made a play as a gunner on special teams, stopping the return man for no gain at the 14-yard-line. He also had a couple assisted tackles in the pass game as well as the run game.
CB Sam Webb — Was in the right place when his receiver couldn’t get ahold of a pass and he picked it off and returned it to the two-yard-line.
RB Sincere McCormick — had two touchdowns in the game; one on the ground and one through, both from two yards out.
LB Amari Burney — Had a pursuit sack and made a great read on a pass over the middle to nearly pick it off.
Raiders add former Broncos LS Jacob Bobenmoyer, officially re-sign 5 others
It was a busy Saturday for the Raiders. Machine gun style, they rattled off several official re-signings by the team. They were as follows:
FB Jakob Johnson
T Jermaine Eluemunor
C Hroniss Grasu
DT Jerry Tillery
LB Curtis Bolton
In addition, the team announced the signing of long snapper Jacob Bobonmoyer, who appeared in 46 games the past three seasons in Denver.
Of particular interest among the returning players is tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. Though the journeyman veteran had been hinting at his return of late.
Kolton and I will be the best Tackle Duo not only in the AFC West but the NFL this upcoming season. I’ll show y’all consistency.
— Jermaine Eluemunor (@TheMainShow_) March 17, 2023
Prior to his proclamation that he and Kolton Miller would be “the best Tackle Duo’ in the league this season, he has simply been talking all along like he was going nowhere despite the team letting him reach free agency before making his return official.
The tackle position has been high on many team need lists for the Raiders this offseason, but Eluemunor has seemingly scoffed at the idea, pointing out that he settled in and played pretty well the latter half of last season.
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Raiders sign LB Curtis Bolton due to injuries to 2 key linebackers the past 3 days.
The past few days have seen the Raiders lose two key newcomers at linebacker. First it was Kyler Fackrell who was expected to contribute some edge rush from the outside linebacker spot and recently it was Micah Kiser who left practice on a cart.
After the Fackrell injury, the team hosted a couple of linebacker for workouts. One of those linebackers was Curtis Bolton.
If the Fackrell injury wasn’t to enough for them to have them sign one of those linebackers, then the Kiser injury certainly was.
#Raiders have signed LB Curtis Bolton, who's out here practicing for the first time. Probably a solid indication about what's next for fellow LB Micah Kiser, who was carted off yesterday.
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) August 1, 2022
In a matter of hours, Bolton was signed and this morning took the field with the team.
Bolton went undrafted out of Oklahoma in 2019, originally signing with the Green Bay Packers.
Injuries had him miss his rookie season and cut heading into his second season. From there he spent time on the practice squad for the Texans, Colts, 49ers, and Lions before seeing his first action for the Lions over the final five games of last season. He played primarily on special teams.
The Murrieta California native tweeted out yesterday that he had just signed with his childhood team for which his father was a diehard fan.
I jus signed with my childhood team. The team my pops was a die hard fan for. Ain’t gon lie I shed a tear or 2. It’s a blessing just to officially wear this gear. God is good to the persistent #LongLiveCurt⚓️
— Curtis Bolton III🏁 (@CB_Savage18) August 1, 2022
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Bryant caught one pass in two injury-ravaged seasons in Detroit
The Detroit Lions did a little roster cleanup on the day before the 2022 NFL draft. Detroit waived tight end Hunter Bryant and linebacker Curtis Bolton from the team.
Bryant showed a little promise as a receiving TE as an undrafted rookie out of Washington in 2020, but injuries were a constant problem. He missed time with a concussion as a rookie and then missed all of 2021 with an injury suffered away from football. The Lions had previously waived him with a non-football injury designation and Bryant reverted to the team’s injured reserve. He also had a stint on the reserve/COVID-19 list while on IR.
Bolton played in five games for the Lions in 2021, all on special teams. The fourth-year LB has bounced around several NFL teams since going undrafted in 2019 out of Oklahoma.
Curtis Bolton, Jared Pinkney and Jashon Cornell are now all on the 53-man roster after a plethora of moves on Tuesday
It was a very busy day on the NFL’s transaction wire on Tuesday around the league. The Detroit Lions contributed their fair share of roster moves to the log.
To sum it up briefly, the Lions:
Signed LB Curtis Bolton and TE Jared Pinkney to the active 53-man roster
Activated DE Jashon Cornell from the reserve/non-football injury list
Signed WR Juwan Green and TE Ross Travis to the practice squad
Placed LB Josh Woods on injured reserve
Placed TE Brock Wright on the reserve/COVID-19 list
Released CB Chris Williamson from the practice squad
Bolton comes up from the Lions’ own practice squad. He’s played over 30 snaps on special teams as a practice squad elevation the last two weeks. The inside backer will take the place of Woods, who started in Week 14 before getting hurt in the Week 15 matchup against Arizona. His season is over due to his neck injury.
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Pinkney was signed off the Los Angeles Rams’ practice squad to the active 53-man roster. He did spend three weeks in September on the Lions practice squad before emigrating to the Rams.
With Wright going on the reserve/COVID-19 list and the earlier move sending Shane Zylstra to the injured reserve, Pinkney is the only tight end on the active roster and projects to start against the Seahawks in Week 16. He is in his second NFL season as an undrafted free agent from Vanderbilt.
Perhaps the most eye-catching move is Cornell. A 2020 7th-round pick from Ohio State, Cornell has been on the field for just four snaps in two seasons. He’s battled injuries, a three-game NFL suspension and recently the lengthy stint on the NFI list. Cornell flashed quite a bit of pass-rush potential in the summer of 2021 when he was healthy.
Colts sign CB Marvell Tell, TE Tyler Davis to practice squad.
The Indianapolis Colts signed cornerback Marvell Tell III and tight end Tyler Davis to the practice squad and waived linebacker Curtis Bolton and wide receiver Tyler Vaughns as corresponding moves, the team announced Friday.
Tell, a fifth-round pick in 2019 was initially made the 53-man roster but was waived when the Colts made a pair of claims following roster cuts. He cleared waivers, and the team was able to bring him back to the practice squad.
Davis was a sixth-round pick with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2020 NFL draft. He appeared in eight games during his rookie season but didn’t record any stats.
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