Tag: Raiders training camp

Explaining Chiefs use of Kermit Mahomes puppet controversy as motivation vs Raiders

The Chiefs are said to have not forgotten about the Kermit Mahomes puppet that showed up at Raiders training camp. We explain what’s behind it.

It’s game day in Las Vegas with the Chiefs in town. It’s the first game between the Raiders and Chiefs this season. And the Chiefs have plenty of motivation considering they are facing the last team to beat them. And they did it on Christmas Day last year.

But apparently that’s not enough. No, as predicted the undefeated reigning Super Bowl champs are using this stupid, media manufactured controversy as some form of extra motivation when facing the Raiders today.

Some of you may not follow these things as closely as we do, so for those of you with lives outside of football in the offseason, let’s go back and see how this came about.

Back in late July, when the Raiders were in training camp in Costa Mesa, they had some bleachers set up and were allowing a few fans to attend each day. One of the fans brought a goofy Kermit the Frog puppet and put a little Mahomes jersey on it with a curly wig.

Then, after practice, when some of the players came to the side to sign autographs, he tossed it to rookie Trey Taylor, who understandably thought it was hilarious and proceeded to pick it up and put it on his hand and play with it.

Everyone had a good laugh, and another fan caught it on his camera and tweeted it out.

Keep in mind, the Mahomes Kermit stuff goes way back. His voice sounds like Kermit. It’s no secret. Everyone has fun with it, including Mahomes himself who was asked about it on Super Bowl media day back in February.

Despite that, some rather irresponsible media accounts, who were not on hand at Raiders camp to see how the whole Kermit doll thing transpired, began immediately wildly speculating that this puppet was brought to camp *by* Raiders players who were passing it around *among each other* and mocking Mahomes.

The person who originally posted the video deleted it when they realized how the media was seizing upon it and had misconstrued that the doll belonged to a fan and the only way it was being “passed around” was between fans.

Not only that, it was a young rookie in his first NFL training camp who picked it up. Someone who had never donned a Raiders jersey, let alone been a part of this rivalry or had ever faced Mahomes or the Chiefs in a game.

Was it a stupid move by Taylor? Oh, most definitely. Quite immature. And he was admonished by his head coach for doing it. In other words, the team did not approve of it. It was a stupid move by a young kid who will learn from it and which had absolutely nothing to do with the team.

No matter, message quickly got to Chiefs media who asked Mahomes about it and instead of just brushing it off as silly nonsense, Mahomes gave the media a nice red meat soundbite in response, saying “It’ll get handled when it gets handled” which Schefter put in his tweet about how the Chiefs “have not forgotten” about it.

And now, of course, the media is bringing up their own creation again, to get the fans worked up all over again.

The whole thing is one of the best examples of how the media has become an instigator, creating controversy where there shouldn’t be any and thus inserting themselves into this rivalry. And the Chiefs are willing and enthusiastic participants in this because — for whatever reason — are always looking for another reason to get motivated.

The loss on Christmas Day should be plenty for a dominant Chiefs team to take down a Raiders team in utter disarray, but, by all means, lets revisit the dumbest controversy of the offseason and run with it all over again.

Rams, Chargers reportedly not pleased Raiders are in SoCal for training camp

Rams, Chargers reportedly not pleased Raiders are in SoCal for training camp

Raiders training camp is finally here, and a lot has changed with the franchise in the last year.

For starters, the Raiders are not trying to be the Patriots anymore, as they foolishly attempted under the last regime led by Josh McDaniels.

The Raiders are tapping into their own mystique, led by new coach Antonio Pierce. To help foster team bonding and culture building, Pierce and the Raiders will hold their training camp in Costa Mesa, Calif. instead of the Raiders team facility near Las Vegas.

It’s a bit of a homecoming for the Raiders, who called Los Angeles home from 1982-94. According to ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez, the NFL’s two teams in LA, the Rams and Chargers, had nothing positive to say about the still-popular Raiders returning to their old stomping grounds.

But league sources acknowledged the Raiders, with their popularity, setting up shop where two other teams do their business, did not go over well with either the Rams or Chargers. Even as there was a “more the merrier” vibe for camp, a league source said. “That’s the upside,” the source added, “more teams.”

Officials with the Rams and Chargers declined to comment.

Gutierrez also reported five teams are holding training camp within 100 miles of one another in the LA area, with the Saints and Cowboys also in the neighborhood.

But the Raiders are a different animal, and it makes sense that the Rams and Chargers wouldn’t be thrilled about it, especially the Raiders’ AFC West rivals, the Chargers; they are intent on growing their LA fanbase after leaving San Diego to play at SoFi Stadium. They likely want Southern California NFL fans to forget about the Raiders’ history there once and for all.

Making matters tolerable for the Rams and Chargers, the Raiders are not allowed to invite fans to camp or promote the team locally due to territorial rights.

That’s bad news for Raiders fans in SoCal but helps team bonding sought by Pierce. Ultimately, that could help the Raiders get back to their roots and become a winner again — and that won’t go well with any team in the NFL, Chargers and Rams included.

Raiders 2024 training camp dates set

Raiders training camp is coming up soon. Here is the full schedule.

The Raiders training camp dates are set. And unlike during weirdly (and unnecessarily dickish) super-secret Josh McDaniels days, the Raiders actually released the full schedule ahead of camp.

Camp will be held in Costa Mesa in Southern California this year as the Raiders look to smartly get out of the hottest Vegas days while enjoying some team bonding away from home.

The team will be in Costa Mesa from July 20 thru August 9. The full team will hold a total of 11 practices there with media access over a two-week span.

Generally speaking, most practices will take place from about 10am to noon unless otherwise noted.

Training camp

July 20 — Rookies, QB’s and select first year players report
July 21-23 — Three-day pre-camp warmup
July 23 — Veteran report day, Antonio Pierce press conference
July 24 — First practice
July 25 — Day 2, Patrick Graham presser
July 26 — Day 3, first in pads, AP presser
July 27 — Off day
July 28 — Off day
July 29 — Day 4, Luke Getsy presser
July 30 — Day 5, AP presser
July 31 — Day 6, Tom McMahon presser
Aug 1 — Off day
Aug 2 — Day 7, AP presser
Aug 3 — Day 8, practice 6pm-8pm
Aug 4 — Off day
Aug 5 — Day 9, AP presser
Aug 6 — Day 10
Aug 7 — Day 11, final day of camp in Costa Mesa, AP presser

Preseason

Aug 10 — Preseason Wk 1 at Minnesota
Aug 11 — AP presser
Aug 14 — Open practice (ticketed) at Allegiant Stadium 6pm-8pm
Aug 17 — Preseason Wk 2 vs Dallas Cowboys
Aug 20 — Open practice (ticketed) at Allegiant Stadium 6pm-8pm
Aug 23 — Preseason Wk 3 vs San Francisco 49ers
Aug 24 — AP presser
Aug 27 — Roster cutdown from 90 to 53 players by 1pm Pacific (4pm ET)

Raiders 2024 camp position battle: Quarterback

Biggest battle at Raiders camp will come at the most important position.

Happy July, everyone. We are officially just three weeks away from the start of Raiders training camp. Among the first to report will be the quarterback who will arrive in Costa Mesa along with rookies on July 21 for the three-day pre-camp warmup.

The purpose of the early arrival for the quarterbacks is to try and shake the rust off before they are joined by their teammates. But will that be enough?

Based on what I saw the last time this group took the field, there is a lot more than rust to shake off. Namely with regard to the two who are currently competing for the starting job.

Aidan O’Connell vs Gardner Minshew

O’Connell got the nod for ten games last season as a rookie. He was not terrible, albeit notably stiff and immobile with little ability to create plays on his own. But he showed he does have a good arm.

Minshew is not known for his arm. He doesn’t throw a gorgeous ball. He just hangs around and manages to get the most out of his talents.

What everyone saw in the offseason practices were two quarterbacks struggling to find a groove. O’Connell was throwing wild, off target passes. While Minshew’s throws seemed to flail and wobble with no zip on them. It wasn’t a display that would yield a great deal of confidence in either player.

Regardless, this is what the Raiders have to work with and barring any further additions to the room, these two figure to duke it out for the job.

It will be the gritty journeyman backup versus the young buck with his third offensive coordinator still trying to find his rhythm.

My take:

This isn’t an ideal scenario to say the least. O’Connell has not shown he can be the guy and Minshew is considered a high-level backup on most teams. It feels like the Raiders will be faced with the lesser of the evils.

In the end, if these two are who they are choosing between, I’m going with Minshew. The Raiders are hoping their defense can lead the way, and the offense can just not lose games for them. Minshew is coming off a situation just like that last year in Indianpolis.

Antonio Pierce: ‘team bonding’ prompted Raiders to move training camp back to Cali

While being around 30 degrees cooler in SoCal is nice, Antonio Pierce says ‘team bonding’ was real reason Raiders moved training camp out of Vegas.

The big news this week for the Raiders is the agreement with the City of Costa Mesa to hold this year’s training camp there. Thus moving it away from the facility in Henderson where the team had held camp since arriving in Las Vegas four years ago.

As someone who has stood on the sideline in the heart of July and August and watched players in full pads and helmets — many of whom over 300 pounds — try to deal with the temperatures that reached well over 110 degrees any given day, the heat would seem to be a good reason to make the move. Actually, it would have been a reason never to leave their primo spot in Napa and take camp to Vegas in the first place.

And while new head coach Antonio Pierce acknowledges having a bit cooler temperatures for camp will be nice, he says the real reason is about the reason most teams used to take their training camp elsewhere.

“I don’t worry about the heat, it’s about team bonding,” Pierce said. “When I played in the National Football League, we never stayed at our facility. I was used to traveling and going away and kind of bunkered up with 90 or 85 players or whatever it was. Team bonding. Getting together, getting to know one another, get away from all the distractions. All about ball. Just ball. I told them I want us to be the tightest group of Raiders hopefully that this organization has seen and that’s what we’re going to build on and get that physical toughness that we want to build on in training camp. Does it help that it’s a little cooler? No doubt. But more importantly I think it’s just good for our team to bond, to get away, and just focus on us.”

Pierce has been all about team chemistry since he took over as head coach. And the results of that approach paid dividends last season and earned him the job full time. So, when he says he wants to leave for the sake of team bonding, you believe him.

Why Southern California? Well, as it happens both he and new general manager Tom Telesco have ties there. Pierce is an LA native. And Telesco spent the past seven years there as GM of the Chargers.

Specifically, the Chargers first held their training camp at Jack Hammett Sports Complex where the Raiders will be holding their camp. So, Telesco is quite familiar with the site.

The temperature being literally 30 degrees cooler in July/August there will certainly be much nicer as well, surely.

Raiders in talks to hold 2024 training camp in Southern California

Raiders in talks to hold 2024 training camp in Southern California

For years the Raiders held their training camp in Napa in Norther California. But since the Raiders arrived in Las Vegas for the 2020 season, they have held training camp at their facility in Henderson, facing daily temps that often surpassed 110 degrees. As of this year, they could be sending camp back to California.

The City of Costa Mesa has announced that they are in discussions with the Raiders to hold this year’s training camp at their Jack Hammett Sports Complex.

The proposed agreement would have the Raiders paying the city $165K in rent along with providing $600K for field upgrades. And the Raiders have committed to holding public practices.

The City Council will discuss the plans on Tuesday, May 7. but the City Manager and Mayor both sound very confident it’s happening.

“Costa Mesa is proud to be one of only two cities in the country to host an NFL team’s summer training camp in a publicly owned facility,” City Manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison said. “Jack Hammett is a treasure and we are excited to potentially have a new NFL team training here.”

Mayor John Stephens agreed.

“I’m pleased to welcome the Las Vegas Raiders and their loyal fans, ‘Raider Nation’ to the great city of Costa Mesa for training camp this summer,” Mayor Stephens said. “The Raiders and Costa Mesa share a commitment to excellence, and our partnership will greatly benefit the community. Many thanks to Newport-Mesa School District, especially Costa Mesa High School, for collaborating with us in this endeavor. To quote Al Davis, ‘Just win, baby!’”

The upgrades would be to fields three and four with camp taking place from mid-July through August.

Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo passed his training camp physical

Jimmy Garoppolo has passed his physical and will begin training camp with his Raiders teammates.

One of the biggest questions facing the Las Vegas Raiders heading into training camp was the injury status of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

But there’s good news on the injury front for Garoppolo, who has passed his physical and will begin training camp with his new teammates, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Garoppolo suffered a season-ending foot injury last December with the 49ers, and he’s been rehabbing after offseason surgery on his foot. He will not be placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.

After failing his physical in March, Las Vegas added a waiver to Garoppolo’s contract, pushing his $11.25 million signing bonus into his base salary. They also had the right to void the deal if he failed to pass a physical this season.

Now, that’s irrelevant as Garoppolo has passed his physical and will begin training camp with his new teammates on July 26.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1361]

Jimmy Garoppolo still ‘going through his process’ with foot injury, Raiders looking at training camp return

Raiders are without Jimmy Garoppolo at OTA’s as he is ‘going through his process’ with foot injury and may not be back until training camp

[anyclip pubname=”2103″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8036″]

Injuries have been a problem for Jimmy Garoppolo. He has been lost for the latter part of the season three times in the past five years. Including last season when he suffered a lisfranc fracture in his left foot and was out the last month of the season and the playoffs.

At the time, Garoppolo held off on getting surgery in the hopes the injury would be able to heal and he could take the field should the 49ers make the Super Bowl.

They did not make the Super Bowl and as it turns out, Garoppolo did end up requiring surgery. A surgery that occurred after he had signed with the Raiders according to a report in The Athletic.

The Raiders take the field for OTA practice this week and Garoppolo will not be among them.

“You won’t see him today,” Josh McDaniels said of Garoppolo.

“He’s going through his process just like we knew he would. Nothing has happened that would surprise us based on the information we had.”

Garoppolo’s surgery was not a surprise to the Raiders according to McDaniels. And he says he not concerned about his starting QB not being available right now.

“Everything that’s happened since we signed Jimmy, we knew ahead of time,” McDaniels said when asked about Garoppolo getting surgery.

As for a timeline, McDaniels said it “could be” training camp before we see Jimmy G practicing.

“The most important time of the year is going to happen when we get to training camp so that we’re ready to go and we can do the work we need to do in August,” McDaniels said.

We all knew the primary concern with Garoppolo was staying healthy. But the expectation is that he is at least healthy going in. As of right not, that is not the case.

Raiders to hold joint training camp practices with Rams

Week after Raiders hold joint training camp practices with the 49ers, they will hold joint practices with the Rams

[anyclip pubname=”2103″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8036″]

For the second time since the Rams relocated to Los Angeles, the Raiders will be coming to town and join them for joint training camp practices, as first reported by the LA Times.

The Raiders will face the Rams in their second preseason game on Saturday August 19, so the joint practices will occur in the days leading up to the game.

These joint practices also come a week after the Raiders will hold joint practices in Las Vegas with the San Francisco 49ers, who they will face in their first preseason game.

Two years ago, the Raiders held joint practices with the Rams in LA. Several scraps occurred. And the second day, practice was called early due a huge brawl during a special teams drill.

Just prior to the fight, the Raiders lost Richie Incognito and Nicholas Morrow to injuries. That would end up being the last time we saw either player suit up for the Raiders.

Jamie Sharper, Troy Vincent Jr among 4 joining Raiders camp staff as part of Diversity coaching fellows

Jamie Sharper joins Raiders camp staff as part of Diversity coaching fellows

[anyclip pubname=”2103″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8036″]

The Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship each year seeks to use the minicamps and training camp for each NFL team to give minority coaching hopefuls an opportunity to observe, participate and gain experience with the hopes of ultimately gaining full-time NFL coaching positions.

The Raiders will add four coaches as part of the program. A couple of whom were highly successful former NFL players.

Jamie Sharper — Defense

Troy Vincent Jr. — Defense

Torrey Gill — Offense

Matt Willis — Special Teams

Sharper played nine seasons in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens (1997-2001), Houston Texans (2002-04) and Seattle Seahawks (2005). He was a member of the Super Bowl XXXV Champion Ravens in 2000.

Most recently, Sharper was a the Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers coach for the XFL DC Defenders in 2022. Prior to the XFL, Sharper served as the Linebackers/Defensive Line coach at Georgetown from 2018-22. He began his coaching career at St. Augustine High School, serving as linebackers coach from 2015-18.

Vincent Jr is the son of former NFL DB and NFL Executive VP of Operations Troy Vincent. Vincent Jr enters his first season as the Director of Recruiting/Scouting Analyst at Central Carrollton (Ga.) High School in 2023…He previously served as the Defensive Pass Game Coordinator at Paulding County (Ga.) High School from 2021-22…Participated in the NFL Career Development Summit in 2020 and 2021.

Gill is entering his second season as an offensive graduate assistant at Oregon State. Prior to that, he was a graduate assistant for two seasons at New Mexico State (2021-22) working with the wide receivers. Previous experience included three seasons as the pass game coordinator/wide receivers coach at Division III Whittier College (2019-21).

Willis played wide receiver for seven years in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens (2007-08), Denver Broncos (2008-12) and Detroit Lions (2013). Willis took part in the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship program in 2017 and 2018 with the Chicago Bears.