Raiders Insider Podcast Talks Training Camp Week 2
In the latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast, the Silver and Black open week two of training camp and we discuss it.
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00:00 Hi, everybody.
00:03 Welcome back to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation.
00:05 I'm Hondo Carpenter.
00:07 This is our Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast with our good friend and colleague,
00:12 Matt Hladik from thespun.com, the editor and publisher.
00:15 Matt, good to have you, friend.
00:16 >> Always a pleasure to be on, and we're about to hit August, dog days of summer.
00:20 >> All right.
00:22 Here we are on Monday, still a couple days away from pads coming on,
00:26 but first week of training camp is underway.
00:29 And I got a few things I want to talk to you about.
00:32 Number one, most people get super excited because this time of year,
00:39 if your offense looks bad, it's terrible.
00:43 If it looks good, we don't know.
00:46 And if it looks great, it should because the defense isn't hitting.
00:51 So every play goes for a touchdown.
00:53 If you got a wide receiver out on a route, the guy's going to get his hands up and
00:57 try to cover it, but he's not going to put his hands on the guy.
01:00 Nobody's going to the ground.
01:01 And so I try to caveat all my coverage with people understanding there's no pads.
01:11 And I know people are excited and they love it, but that is a huge thing to remember.
01:15 Football's played with pads, and it's played with physicality.
01:19 And that's not going on right now.
01:21 I think that's important for people to understand.
01:23 What do you think?
01:24 Do you think I tap the brakes?
01:27 Am I a buzz kill?
01:28 Or what do you think?
01:29 >> No, I think you need to apply that perspective.
01:33 I mean, obviously, if your offense comes in seven on seven red zone or
01:38 11 on 11 without hitting and it looked terrible and there's quarterback stone
01:42 interceptions or there's no chemistry at all, it's a little bit of an alarming sign.
01:47 Because unless they're really working on some specific things and
01:52 they don't care about being efficient and what kind of numbers they put up,
01:56 it can be alarming because you're saying, okay, should be a little better than this.
01:59 But I think really it's tough to judge until pads come on.
02:03 And then even when you get into preseason games,
02:08 we're seeing with the reduced preseason game schedule,
02:11 teams take a different approach with how they play some of their better,
02:15 their first string guys.
02:16 It was always maybe a series or two in the first game, same thing in the second game.
02:21 And the third game was basically almost like a tune up where they played a half or
02:27 three quarters.
02:28 Now there's only three games and you're seeing some teams hold their best players
02:31 out.
02:32 So you really, no matter what level of preseason is,
02:36 you always have to kind of temper expectations a little bit.
02:39 >> [INAUDIBLE]
02:40 >> Okay, I'll give you another one, rookies.
02:45 Now, you can look at guys without pads and OTAs, mini camps,
02:51 and even the first week at camp who are veterans and say,
02:55 that guy's looking really, really good.
02:58 I don't think you can make any of those observations on rookies.
03:01 I'll give you an example.
03:02 Aiden O'Connell, the quarterback of Purdue, many thought if he would have come out as
03:07 a junior would have been a first round draft pick.
03:10 The kid in his first OTAs, In second, held the ball too long.
03:17 But that's normal.
03:18 It wasn't a criticism like the kid can't play in the NFL.
03:22 Then you go to mini camp, got better.
03:25 Last OTA, got better.
03:30 But he came in last week, very accurate, which he's always been.
03:35 But he was extremely good with the ball, didn't hold it too long.
03:41 Here's the problem.
03:43 I don't care who you are as a rookie.
03:46 He doesn't have Max Crosby and Chandler Jones coming to kill him.
03:50 He doesn't have Divine Diablo, Roberts Fuling coming at him.
03:54 He isn't throwing against, well, I guess he is.
03:56 But when them being able to do what they do with their hands on Marcus Peters,
04:02 Marcus Epps, so do you agree with me even on rookies, it's even a bigger deal?
04:09 >> It is, and I think also when I'm getting into one on ones in camp,
04:15 a running back in space in a one on one pass catching drill against a linebacker.
04:21 Okay, you wanna see him do some things, but you have to take into account,
04:27 is he putting a double move on the guy?
04:29 Is he doing, how is he getting open?
04:32 Is it something that's realistic to how he'd have to do it in a game?
04:36 Pass rush one on ones with young guys.
04:40 Yeah, you can see the speed, you can see at less, and you see some of the tools.
04:44 But again, not full pads, the linemen aren't doing what they would be doing
04:49 to them in a regular game, so I think there's always things.
04:53 You have to look for certain attributes, like I think you said.
04:59 You look for the speed, you look for the size, you look for
05:03 the competitiveness, you look for how comfortable they are just getting out there.
05:09 And I think those are all things that you can kind of log in your mind and
05:13 think about going forward.
05:16 But judging how they play and thinking that it will ultimately
05:21 signify how they're gonna play when the lights come on in September is always
05:26 a little bit of a fool's errand because it's never exactly the same.
05:30 The Spun covers all of college sports and all of pro sports.
05:37 In my career, I've covered NBA, NHL, NFL, and Major League Baseball,
05:44 and covered college hockey, college football,
05:50 college basketball, even some baseball, whatever.
05:52 I have never once had a organization tell me,
06:02 you're too critical, you're not getting access.
06:06 There have even been times when I've seen media members, I didn't cover a team,
06:12 but there was an SEC one time.
06:14 Butch Jones, as you know, was a very dear friend of mine.
06:17 He's now the coach at Arkansas State.
06:18 But when he was the coach at Tennessee, where people actually took his quotes and
06:24 took them right out of context, and it was one of the most egregious
06:30 things I've ever seen a media member do in sports.
06:34 They didn't lose their credentials.
06:36 And I always hear fans will say, well, this reporter has to be careful what he
06:43 says or the team's gonna pull his access, or this reporter's being told what to say,
06:48 or they're on the company dime.
06:49 And I laugh at that.
06:52 Now, I'm not laughing at the person, but
06:56 I laugh at that concept because you've been doing this a long time.
06:59 I've had organizations that hated what I said.
07:04 I've had coaches call me two and three in the morning and
07:08 gone over to their house to watch film with them when they disagreed.
07:13 And but I've never had that.
07:17 I think that's a misnomer.
07:19 And when you're professional, as long as you're not making it personal,
07:24 I don't think that that's ever an issue.
07:28 Have you ever heard of that?
07:29 Because it baffles me the amount of people.
07:32 Hondo can't say that.
07:34 I can say whatever I want.
07:35 I've heard, I mean, it happens to anybody who's ever written,
07:41 has gotten pushback, I think, from a coach or a PR member or
07:47 a player over something negative they've written.
07:50 It's not that they don't complain or try to give their side,
07:57 or maybe sometimes they call you up and yell at you or scream at you,
08:00 because that's happened too.
08:01 It's not that they just look at whatever you say and
08:08 allow you to say it without trying to push back or
08:11 necessarily tell you that you're wrong or things like that.
08:17 So that does happen.
08:18 The only time in my experience where I've seen credentials pulled is if
08:23 an outlet was conducting themselves almost egregiously unprofessionally,
08:30 in terms of, or made an error.
08:33 Like I remember a certain student reporter,
08:38 when I was covering college football, was not allowed to come to practice maybe a week or
08:44 something like that because he was reporting on aspects of practice
08:48 that the media wasn't allowed to report on.
08:52 And it was kind of, I think he had something he'd been warned about, and
08:54 then he did it again.
08:56 And they were like, listen, this is an agreement that the media has.
09:01 You can't write about this or publish stuff and you're breaking it.
09:03 So if you're being unprofessional, you're breaking what the regulations
09:09 are that's established between the media and the program or the organization,
09:14 then I've seen access get pulled or access get eliminated or things like that.
09:19 In terms of criticism, usually you don't see that.
09:23 Now, listen, one thing that is true, if you're a beat reporter and
09:28 you're there every day, you can't necessarily
09:31 editorialize the way a columnist does or the way a sports radio person does.
09:39 I can't write if I'm a beat reporter that so and so
09:44 who struck out three times in a game is a bum and they need to get rid of him and
09:48 it's that the way a sports radio person does because I got to come in the next day
09:53 and deal with that guy and he's not going to be happy.
09:56 Now I can say, listen, he's not performing well.
09:59 They might have to drop him in the order.
10:00 They might have to get rid of him.
10:01 They might have to bench him.
10:02 And that's fair game.
10:04 So there's certain things you have to do.
10:05 You do have to conduct yourself professionally when you're there on a day
10:08 to day basis, because you have to have a relationship interpersonally and
10:12 professionally with those players and coaches you cover.
10:15 But there really isn't in terms of pulling access with being critical.
10:19 There's some pushback, yeah.
10:21 There's some tension, yeah, but it doesn't happen from my experience.
10:25 >> Well, I agree with you and I'm gonna tell you, I don't think there has to be
10:32 a difference between a beat writer and a radio guy and a columnist,
10:36 because I don't think you should be calling people bums for
10:40 their performance on a football field.
10:42 >> I agree with that.
10:42 >> So other than that, yeah.
10:44 >> But you know that there's something-
10:46 >> Yeah, I get your point.
10:47 I laugh though at how many people will send me comments.
10:53 You need to tell them they're a filthy, well,
10:56 they wouldn't go tell that to the person's face.
10:58 >> So- >> And when you're sitting on
11:03 the outside, but I try to ask a ton of tough questions.
11:08 All right, next, I wanna move to the next part cuz I thought this was really,
11:12 really fascinating.
11:13 The Raiders have such a huge fan base, it's mammoth.
11:22 And so national media and others that aren't national, just pop up media,
11:28 I call them, can write anything they want and man, click, click, click, click,
11:34 click, click, click, click, click, click, I'm gonna give you a couple of them.
11:39 And again, I don't know who wrote these, so
11:42 I'm not attacking anyone in particular, just, but Josh Jacobs hasn't signed
11:47 because Josh Jacobs doesn't like the roster that Josh McDaniels has built.
11:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]
11:56 Let me just say this, guys in the NFL sign all the time cuz they want the money.
12:00 And Josh Jacobs is not even remotely concerned
12:08 about, that has nothing, when I say not concerned, he wants a good roster.
12:14 But that has no value to him on why he hasn't signed.
12:19 I'll give you another one.
12:19 Devonta Adams secretly wants to be traded to Green Bay.
12:24 No, he doesn't.
12:27 I know this for a fact.
12:28 And I can go on and on and on and tell you, okay, here's another one.
12:37 I don't know where this one came from, but this was that Josh McDaniels was sent
12:42 here by Bill Belichick to destroy the Raiders so
12:46 that they're never able to compete against the Patriots.
12:49 Well, here's the problem.
12:50 The Raiders weren't competing against the Patriots before he got here.
12:53 Bill needed Josh a lot more than he needed him to come destroy the Raiders.
13:02 I tell this to fans a lot, but I feel bad for
13:08 Raider Nation because they get so much crap thrown at them.
13:15 Now, there are some really good beat reporters, and
13:17 I in no way think I'm the only one.
13:20 There's some really, really good reporters that cover this team.
13:23 And I would think you would wanna talk to the people that are talking to
13:28 the players, talking to the coaches that have the access to get you that information.
13:36 And to me, I have talked about this for the three years I've covered the Raiders.
13:42 But I think at some point, fans have to begin to educate themselves and
13:47 say, that's not a source.
13:51 I'm not even gonna waste my time with it.
13:53 When you talk about that, it's like the spine.
13:55 What I love about you guys, you will talk about every rumor,
13:59 innuendo, and everything around the world of sports.
14:02 But the one thing you don't do is you never talk about it
14:07 from a place that isn't credible.
14:10 So when you talk about it, it's got legs.
14:13 I respect that, I love that.
14:15 Would you talk about that side, please?
14:17 >> Sure, I think there's so many things that get thrown out there.
14:21 And I think especially now during the summer when there's a little bit of
14:25 a low and you're waiting for training camps to really pick up and
14:31 preseason games and you'll see a lot of sensationalism.
14:36 So I think it's always, you have to take everything that you see.
14:40 And not to mention, there's also things that you see more prevalence where
14:45 there's fake tweets and fake accounts out there on Instagram,
14:51 on Twitter, or X or whatever it's called now.
14:56 They kind of make things up or they take things totally out of context.
15:01 And sometimes people can't tell the difference.
15:04 And I think you always have to kind of examine the source of where things
15:09 are coming from, and you have to look at how reputable they are,
15:18 if they might have some type of connection to a certain,
15:23 one of their sources, if they might have an agenda, things like that.
15:27 To me, one of the things that I always find funny is a lot of times,
15:34 a lot of our content is aggregated where we will find what's going on.
15:40 Whether it's stuff that's been tweeted, that guys say, quotes from,
15:45 Josh McDaniel said something in an open presser.
15:49 We'll take it off Twitter and contextualize it, things like that.
15:54 But I always found it funny that you'll get fans of,
15:58 this isn't specific to any fan base, who will see something on our site and
16:02 get mad that we wrote it.
16:04 And say that, you don't know what you're talking about, you don't know it.
16:07 And I'm like, we didn't come up with this, we cook it from somewhere else.
16:12 Get mad at them, if there's something, it's not my opinion, I'm not saying it.
16:17 So I do think you always have to take a step back and
16:22 kind of examine the source, examine the story and say, okay, what does this mean?
16:28 Is this something that is of eminent concern right away?
16:35 Or is it something that can kind of be thrown in the back burner or
16:39 just thrown out completely?
16:41 So I think that that's something that the Raider fans and any fan base should do.
16:44 >> Yeah, I think it's terribly important.
16:48 I think it's important for a lot of reasons.
16:52 I love, and you know this, I love the passion of Raider fans.
16:57 They're awesome.
16:58 I don't blame them for being mad.
17:00 Your organization has sold you on just win baby and it hasn't won.
17:04 You should be upset about that.
17:08 That shouldn't bother you, it shouldn't make you angry.
17:11 I'll give you another one.
17:13 But, and it's very small.
17:18 I reported and it was the first.
17:21 I didn't expect Hunter Renfro to be on the team when the season starts.
17:26 And I've shared with you a little bit behind the scenes where I'm coming from.
17:31 And but I've never said it's imminent, he's gone, whatever.
17:38 Cuz it's not.
17:39 I've said the Raiders want to keep him.
17:41 They're not gonna give him away.
17:42 They're not gonna cut him.
17:44 And so you'll see people that'll say, but you're never right.
17:50 You said, you guaranteed or you said Renfro was gonna be here.
17:54 I've never said it.
17:55 I've said it.
17:56 I'd be shocked if he was cuz, and I've shared with you some of the behind
17:59 the scenes of why I feel that way.
18:02 It's just important, I think, for fans.
18:06 I want them to consume as much information as they can,
18:10 just make sure they're getting it from right places.
18:12 Cuz here's the problem.
18:14 When you keep going and click, click, click, click to things that aren't accurate or
18:18 spread false information about your team, it hurts your team.
18:21 Let's go to the next page now.
18:23 Vegas and the Raiders, the way that this team is pursuing the year.
18:34 They're scheduling off days for Jimmy Garoppolo, not because he's hurt,
18:39 but literally to be safe.
18:42 Just to, hey, right now this time of the year, we don't need to rush it.
18:46 I'm gonna ask you a few questions.
18:48 Number one, last year they didn't play Derek Carr in any preseason games.
18:54 They're meaningless.
18:56 It's very risky.
18:59 I think you play him in a lot of games and practice where it's controlled.
19:04 But do you put him out there during preseason games considering how much he
19:08 didn't play last year?
19:10 Do you roll the dice and play him in the preseason?
19:14 Or do you wait?
19:15 >> I have one question before that.
19:19 Do the Raiders have joint practices with the middle team or anything like that?
19:23 >> Who do they play?
19:24 Just wondering.
19:25 >> The Niners and the Rams.
19:28 >> Okay, so that's really been one of the newer things.
19:31 I mean, teams have been doing that for decades, but
19:33 I feel like there's been a bigger emphasis placed on that in the NFL in
19:37 recent years of doing a lot more things in the controlled
19:42 combined practices as opposed to in preseason games.
19:48 I would think that the Raiders, if I'm the Raiders,
19:50 I wanna get him as many reps as I can in those situations.
19:54 So he has some game-like reps, and you get to see him out there with his teammates
20:00 without throwing him into the preseason game.
20:03 I see the argument for saying, hey, maybe give him a series or
20:08 two, just kinda see things.
20:11 But here's my question.
20:12 You give him, if you bring him out there, if it's the second preseason game,
20:17 third preseason game, whatever, you're probably going to, if you're smart,
20:23 you're calling plays in that situation to be careful with him.
20:27 You don't want him doing too much.
20:31 And my question is this, if you call, come out, and your first series,
20:35 hand off to whoever, then maybe a quick three-step drop,
20:39 out pattern, just dump it off, maybe roll out, things like that.
20:43 Yeah, you see him move, you see him do a little bit of stuff on the field with his
20:47 teammates in a game, but you're not playing for very long.
20:51 And you're gonna limit what he does so he doesn't have a chance to get hurt.
20:54 Is it even worth doing it at all?
20:56 Or are you better off just doing it in the controlled practices?
20:59 And I kind of lean more towards that.
21:01 >> Yeah, my opinion is if what you're gonna do doesn't matter,
21:06 then it doesn't matter.
21:08 >> Right.
21:09 >> And I love the controlled practices, and I agree with you 100%.
21:14 We're in total agreement.
21:15 All right, next question I have for you, and I wanna discuss with you,
21:20 because I think it's really big.
21:23 Devontae Adams, this guy never ceases to amaze me.
21:27 I have all the respect in the world for Devontae Adams.
21:31 He's out there grabbing guys that aren't gonna make this team on defense,
21:36 giving pointers.
21:37 He is helping young receivers.
21:41 I've never said this publicly, I've said it privately.
21:45 He's a statesman of the game.
21:50 And I think that's pretty cool.
21:51 Are you surprised at this stage in his career, all the money, all the success,
21:58 all the accolades, how he has progressed into who he is today?
22:03 >> Well, listen, I mean, you're talking about a guy who's been one of the better
22:07 receivers in football for a while now, is probably on a Hall of Fame track in his
22:11 career, so it would be easy for him to kind of just settle in and say,
22:15 I've got my money, I know what I'm doing.
22:19 I guess maybe help some other receivers here and there, but
22:22 not necessarily be as hands on as he is with, like you said,
22:25 guys on defense or other areas of the team.
22:28 But to me, what I think it signifies is a guy who's passionate about his craft and
22:33 is passionate about winning.
22:34 And yeah, when he came to Vegas,
22:38 obviously the draw to play with Derek Carr was there and
22:42 that was a big reason and everything, but he wanted to win.
22:46 They didn't win enough last year and
22:49 obviously this year you don't want to have a repeat of 2022.
22:53 So he wants to win, I think his commitment there is,
22:58 I'm gonna make this as good a possible as I can for everybody else.
23:03 I only have a few years left, so to speak,
23:06 your career as a football player, as good as he is, it's always limited.
23:11 You don't know how much time you have left to play at a high level, so
23:14 you might as well maximize it.
23:15 And I think that's what he's trying to do, not just with the way he plays the game,
23:19 but with the way he approaches the game.
23:20 And I think that's certainly a good sign for
23:23 the Raiders in terms of his commitment.
23:26 Now again, depending how the season goes,
23:31 you'll see how his future is with the franchise after that.
23:33 But going into 2023, I think it's a great sign.
23:36 >> Yeah, I do too.
23:38 Last one on the Raiders today, and I appreciate you doing this.
23:41 Man, next week we're gonna have just piles and notes to discuss.
23:45 But one of the things that I find interesting about Josh McDaniels,
23:51 and I find it interesting, and I think fans would.
23:56 His practices are short.
23:59 Now that they're not doing two and three a days anymore,
24:04 he keeps them between an hour and a half, two hours.
24:09 They spend a ton of time in air conditioned classrooms.
24:12 Everybody does the test at the beginning of camp to make sure you're in shape.
24:22 But once these guys prove they're in shape, hey,
24:25 we're not gonna sit here and run sprints all day.
24:27 We're not gonna sit here and do all that.
24:29 We wanna be teaching you, teaching you, teaching you, teaching you, teaching you.
24:34 The players love that, and not just cuz they're sitting in air conditioning.
24:38 He is one of the few coaches that teach the why.
24:43 He never gets mad at them.
24:45 Hey, why are we doing this?
24:48 And I've had players before come to me.
24:51 You've been a friend of mine for 15 years almost, close to it.
24:56 Maybe, what is it, 12 or 13?
24:59 I don't remember.
24:59 >> Yeah, 12 or 13, yeah, it's a long time.
25:02 >> Yeah, and you've seen me report stories.
25:05 Remember the one story I reported where I was almost given a playbook and
25:09 told, look at how stupid some of this stuff was, and
25:12 all the controversy that went with that.
25:14 But they love it because if they don't understand the why,
25:18 it's hard to get a player to give you their best.
25:22 What do you think of Josh's using the classroom, not as much time on
25:27 the field, answering the why, bringing the players in?
25:33 >> Well, I think it's sort of an example of the newer approach you're seeing
25:37 with football.
25:38 I think you're seeing, like you said, the two and
25:41 three a days of camp of old are gone.
25:43 There's not as much hitting.
25:45 You don't have as much practice time as you used to.
25:49 So you have to maximize what you do have.
25:51 And I think that that is the way he's choosing to do it.
25:55 He's trying to keep his players fresh, keep their minds fresh.
25:58 And the point that you did make, I think, was when you get to
26:03 a professional level at any sport, those guys or
26:07 women, they're the best in the world at what they do.
26:12 And you can't tell them to do something and just demand it of them the way
26:17 a high school coach does or a youth football coach or something like that.
26:23 You have to be able to convey to them why you're doing it and
26:27 why you believe it will work.
26:29 Because they're gonna tune you out.
26:31 If it's something that is just kind of a drill sergeant way of doing things or
26:35 you're telling them what to do and they have a question about it, but
26:39 you're just kind of saying this, we're doing it this way because I said so,
26:43 that's not gonna work.
26:45 You have to have some type of give and
26:47 take with professional athletes at that level.
26:49 And no matter what sport it is, and I think that that's important.
26:54 Because now you can see for yourself if you're a player,
26:58 this is why we're doing this.
27:00 You get that interactive session with your coaching staff where you can bounce
27:03 different things off of them and say, okay, if I see this out there,
27:07 how do I adjust or can we do it this way instead?
27:09 Or it helps foster those kind of working relationships.
27:13 So listen, I do think, of course, there's gonna be people saying if they get off
27:18 to a slow start, should have had more physicality and
27:21 should have did things this way, that way.
27:24 There's always different ways of doing things and as a coach,
27:28 you always tweak your methods a little bit the longer you've been around.
27:33 But I understand what he's going for here.
27:35 I understand that approach and I think that kind of holistic approach
27:39 is catching on a little bit more around the NFL.
27:42 >> All right, he's Matt Heletic from thespun.com.
27:46 I'm Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation,
27:49 Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast, part of the Fans First Sports Network.
27:53 We'll catch you again next week.
27:54 Thanks, everybody.