Following an 18-3 win in their preseason opener Friday night at O.co Coliseum, the Oakland Raiders returned to the practice field at their Napa Valley Training Complex Sunday morning.
After the morning session, Head Coach Jack Del Rio addressed the media, and during his time at the podium, he spoke about the return of wide receiver Rod Streater, as well as his connection to the Minnesota Vikings.
ROD STREATER RETURNS
After missing nearly the first three weeks of Training Camp 2015, wide receiver Rod Streater returned to practice Sunday.
Streater adds another body to an already competitive position group on the Raiders roster, and Head Coach Del Rio spoke about the veteran wide out's return to practice.
"He looks good, looks fresh. He passed the conditioning test and got himself ready to go. So yeah, good to see him back out there."
JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER
The Raiders now have one preseason game under their belts, and while Head Coach Del Rio was pleased with what he saw from his team in their first game, he insists that continual improvement is key.
"I just want to keep getting better. I want to keep playing good football. We had a lot to clean up. I knew there would be, there always is. So a lot of things that we need to do better. It's really more about preparing for the season and us, the drills and the fundamentals and the basics of what we want to be good at, and that's really what I'm after."
CONNECTION TO THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS
The Raiders next preseason game is against the Minnesota Vikings, a team that Head Coach Del Rio spent four years playing for in the 1990s.
He enjoyed some formative experiences as a Viking, and he spoke about some of the lasting relationships he made in Minnesota.
"Obviously, Denny [Green] made a huge impression on me. I loved playing for Denny. Tony Dungy, I considered him a mentor. He really was instrumental in me even thinking about coaching, considering coaching. Brian Billick and I met there and we went on, he hired me in Baltimore and we had a chance to get together there. [Offensive Line Coach] Mike [Tice] and I met as players there. It's very deep there. Four really good years there."
KEEPING THE ERRORS TO A MINIMUM
During their first preseason game against the St. Louis Rams, the Raiders did not commit any pre-snap penalties, which was a welcome sight to Head Coach Del Rio.
"It's a good start. We want to eliminate that as much as we can. We're not going to be perfect but we're going to strive to eliminate that part and to make sure that we're giving ourselves a chance to sustain high performance."
EARNING YOUR REPS
Following practice Head Coach Del Rio made it clear – if you play well, you're going to earn more reps.
"Guys that do well get more, guys that don't do as well get less. It's really pretty cut and dry. We're going to want to look at more of guys that do well and do good things with the reps they get."
