Historic nightmare: Oh no! Not again” Antonio pierce Raiders training camp” Taking competition to the Maxx….
Players on Antonio Pierce’s Las Vegas Raiders will have to earn their starting positions, he is keen to point out.
When it comes to their football team, Tom Telesco, the general manager and head coach, has emphasized from the beginning that competition will be the final word. Pierce stated, “I think it’s wide open everywhere on our team, honestly,” following this past Friday’s team training camp. “As I often say, it’s about competition. Although that sounds corny, it’s actually the case. For example, we have rookies, players who have never played in the league, and guys who have played. Men have shown up, and I believe that those who are given the chance are taking full advantage of it. There are some inexperienced people there who are flashing, in fact.
There’s one particular Raider who is doing everything he can to ensure he brings out the best in everyone: Maxx Crosby. As you can tell from the headline of this piece, Crosby is a tone setter and during Las Vegas’ scrimmage on Saturday, the edge rusher emphatically gave quarterback Gardner Minshew a taste of Silver and Black football with a hit.
Pads on, hits on. That’s how a team separates the roster hopefuls from the roster mainstays and builds a foundation to a 53-man roster come cut day. While the hard sack from Crosby to Minshew may make some cringe — and for good reason as the Raiders depth at quarterback (and edge rusher) isn’t sound — and full contact and going to the ground has injury potential, but for Las Vegas to get better in training camp sessions, they need to go to the max and full tilt.
Maxx is going to be talking, I’ve been dealing with that for almost six years now so it’s nothing different,” Raiders center Andre James said jokingly. “He’s always been the same Maxx but it’s fun. It’s making Thayer better, it’s making DJ (Glaze) better, it’s making everyone better.”
The hit itself woke up Minshew. As our Marcus Johnson noted in his Silver Minings piece on posted on Sunday — Gardner Minshew takes a slight lead in the QB competition — the veteran confidently led two scoring drives by using his legs and arm to move the Raiders offense. Second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who is competing for the starting quarterback role, didn’t fare so hot and had two interceptions.
- Third-year safety Isaiah Pola-Moa’s penchant to be around the ball and making plays was on display in the scrimmage. Showing great range and awareness, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound defensive back intercepted a pass in the end zone as he ran over to help and snared a takeaway.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to be able to run all day,” Pola-Mao said. “Just always being around the ball is something that I’ve put on myself. At the end of the day when you put on the film, I want to be in the TV frame.”
- Rookie linebacker Tommy Eichenberg showed off his ability to drop into coverage and get his hands up to deflect the course of a throw. For Pierce, the fifth-round pick from the 2024 NFL Draft is as advertised as an instinctive and high IQ middle linebacker.
“I think what happens when you see a rookie doing well is you do too much with him. Leave him at mike linebacker and then we’ll adjust from there,” Pierce answered when asked if Eichenberg can be an outside linebacker, too.
- Rookie offensive tackle DJ Glaze was humbled by Crosby after word got out the third-round pick from Maryland held his own. But Pierce is quick to point out Glaze has no qualms of jumping right into the fray, not getting down on himself, and continuing to work and improve.
