Training Camp Notebook 8/23 & 8/24: Raiders locked and loaded for preseason finale

Aug 24, 2023 at 03:30 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

The Silver and Black have one more game to evaluate their roster before the regular season is here, traveling to AT&T Stadium to play the Dallas Cowboys for their preseason finale.

Coming off two weeks of joint practices, the high level of competition was still among the team, as many players are vying for spots on the 53-man roster. These practices, along with Saturday's game, could do a lot for players eager to make an impact for the Raiders this season.

Notes and Observations from Day 17 & 18

Offense

Zamir White made a few good runs Wednesday, as he's continuing to prepare for a larger role this season. "I take a lot of reps, and I've just been more locked in," White said of going into Year 2. "I've got to have it right, so just reps probably, just going through that process over and over and finding the key points in the fronts and the blitzes and just knowing all that stuff."
Veteran running back Brandon Bolden made a one-handed snag out the backfield, which caught the eye of Divine Deablo, who mentioned it following practice.
UDFA Sincere McCormick also made a few nice catches out the backfield Thursday.
Both practices were productive for tight ends in the passing game, especially Michael Mayer, Cole Fotheringham and Jesper Horsted.
It's yet to be determined how many projected offensive starters will play in Dallas, according to Josh McDaniels: "[T]he four joint practices really were huge for us because there was a huge chunk of work that those guys got in those practices. It was really revealing to us a lot of things, good and bad, and we've been able to gauge a lot off of that and limit the, let's call it risk to some degree. ... We'll sit down tonight and finalize that, but I think there's going to be some guys that won't suit up or won't play."

Defense

Tyree Wilson's practice reps are ramping up. After seeing action only in individual drills last week in California, he's gotten some work in team period the past two days.
"Tyree is doing well," McDaniels said Wednesday morning. "Excited to kind of continue to move forward here. He got a handful of individual reps last week, got a couple of one-on-ones as you guys saw. And then yesterday we were able to kind of move forward into some team stuff, and now will be pads. It's progressing the way we wanted it to, and we'll keep being smart and diligent following the direction of the medical people there, but he's doing great."
The interior defensive line competition is still wide open, with Neil Farrell Jr. , Adam Butler, Matthew Butler and Jerry Tillery all making their case for starting or rotational roles.
In the secondary, Jaquan Johnson seemed to have a nice day flocking to the ball.

Special Teams

In Wednesday's practice, DeAndre Carter and Ameer Abdullah saw the majority of kick return reps. Carter had a combined 61 yards on a kick return and a punt return against the Rams.
In Thursday's practice, rookie Tre Tucker and cornerback Duke Shelley saw time returning punts. Tucker totaled 66 yards on four punt returns against the Rams.

Quote of the Day

My main mindset is just to work and grind every single day, and just show up for my teammates every day. Zamir White

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Las Vegas Raiders tackle Dalton Wagner (78) on the field for practice at 2023 Training Camp at Intermountain Health Performance Center.