That group spent two series with Derek Carr and the first-team offense and another series with the second-team, so a couple different running backs could get a chance to run behind Osemele and company.
Advertisement
Oakland Raiders starting defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. was carted to the locker room with a hip injury in a 31-10 preseason win over the Arizona Cardinals.
-CARR: (Laughs.) Yeah, I think that the more good football players that you have on the team it takes pressure off of more people.
– If the Cards can get that out of tight end Troy Niklas, he’ll be the guy they expected with a second-round pick. When they make good plays like that, the initial reaction is like, ‘Dang it!’ You want it to work. Usually if you play every Sunday at 1 o’clock, you ain’t very good. The third-round pick from Texas A&M saw far more snaps than the other starters and improved as the game wore on but was beaten for a touchdown by Andre Holmes on a near flawless fade throw from Oakland backup Matt McGloin. Yet it was George Atkinson III who won the night as he dazzled fans as he rushed for 97 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.
The only downside to McGloin’s night was that he went 5-11, which puts him under 50 percent passing – the same was true for Carr, who went just 3-7 in very limited action.
“It was something I really didn’t want to do because really all last season I was fighting injuries”, Cooper said during an appearance on “Haberman and Middlekauff” on KGMZ-FM in San Francisco this week. He completed only eight of 24 passes for 121 yards and was intercepted once.
“I’ve still got a lot of work to do”, he said. He’s now listed as the third-string runner behind starter Latavius Murray and Taiwan Jones, but don’t count him out as Murray’s primary backup, especially considering he’s getting more touches than Jones in camp thus far.
Another Lions rookie, quarterback Jake Rudock of MI, threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Jace Billingsley later in the fourth – after Washington’s return and Rudock’s 2-point conversion pass to Quinshad Davis put the Lions up 24-17.
On the Cardinals’ first offensive play after the kickoff, backup Drew Stanton overthrew intended receiver Jarron Brown and Nate Allen intercepted. The Raiders also have steady veterans Seth McRoberts and Andre Holmes (third and fourth in receiving touchdowns a year ago with nine combined), so it’s possible a number of Del Rio’s cuts come at the expense of young wide outs.
His progression appeared to be trending upward as of the Raiders’ first pre-season game, a blowout win over the Arizona Cardinals. He was solid in run-blocking, but struggled some against the pass rush Friday. Time will tell, but he did play better as time went on (and admittedly, after Mack went out.) Humphries hasn’t answered all the questions yet. The first-round pick started at strong safety and played one defensive series. The second TD was a far better play, a ideal strike on the side of the endzone to wideout Andre Holmes.
“Bringing over Reggie Nelson and Sean Smith and those guys on the defensive side of the ball, I think has helped Amari and Crab and made that offensive unit better”, Carr said. “To me, watching Snake and coach (John) Madden on the sideline, they were just so cool, calm and collected”.
The Raiders were in light pads Wednesday at their plush Napa Valley Marriott training camp headquarters when Carr, during team drills near the goal line, lofted a pass intended for receiver Michael Crabtree in the back of the end zone. I definitely got better.
Like when tackle Menelik Watson went down against the Cardinals at home last August, and after displaying tremendous promise in his second training camp.
Advertisement
Cardinals: With Justin Bethel still recovering from foot surgery, Williams won the starting job at cornerback in training camp and Arians has said Bethel will have to earn it back.
