The defense listens closely to Head Coach Dennis Allen. Photo by Tony Gonzales
The Oakland Raiders took the field for the second day of their final week of Organized Team Activities (OTA). Players, both veterans and rookies, are beginning to get acclimated and are feeling like a more cohesive team. "It feels great being out there with the team, getting the timing down with the quarterbacks, understanding what the coaches want and us just coming together as one," said WR Denarius Moore.
It took a day to get back into the groove after a week off, but the team feels back on track. "Coming back from a little break, I think me particularly, we were all a bit sloppy the first Monday, but today was a better day," said LB Philip Wheeler. "I think we're doing pretty good. We've got a lot of new people here, I'm new, some of the coaches are new and I think overall we're doing a great job."
Rookie LB Nathan Stupar is starting to feel comfortable out on the field. "It has started to slow down a little bit with just the learning curve," explained Stupar. "When we first got here, it was crazy with just throwing so many terminologies and defenses, but it's slowed down and I'm getting the hang of it and able to react a lot faster and see things before they happen. It's going good and I think it's going to go better throughout the week."
During the last two days of OTAs and the upcoming mini-camp, the players want to really dive into the playbook and get as much perfected as they can before the break. "[I want to] just to learn the plays a little better, get acclimated to some of the newer teammates that just came in and that are just getting back out here, and just learn the playbook," said Wheeler.
Stupar wants to get the whole defense down before the off-season program comes to an end. "I think we have 80 percent of the defense in and [I want] to really understand that 80 percent because we got a lot thrown at us these last two weeks. I want to get more in depth in the defenses and more understanding of why we're doing it and who's doing what and really understand the whole defense, not just knowing my own responsibility."
The team returns to the field on Wednesday for another on-field session. Log on to Raiders.com, the Raiders official Facebook page and Twitter for complete coverage.
