Raiders report: Former first-round pick answers challenge

Preseason

at a glance

Schedule

All practices at Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center, unless noted:

Friday — Practice, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m

■ Saturday — Off

■ Sunday — Preseason game vs. 49ers, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif., 1 p.m.

■ Monday — Off

■ Tuesday — Off

Quote of the day

Rookie linebacker Divine Deablo has only participated in a few practices for the Raiders after getting cleared from an offseason injury. He has already learned the NFL is a long way from Virginia Tech.

“The one surprise is that you have to be on your ‘A’ game every single day,” he said Thursday. “We have some ballers here, especially at the tight end position. I’ll tell you, Darren Waller ran a special route on me. I was in good position, but he’s really fast and I just didn’t expect a tight end to be that fast.”

Deablo confirmed he will play Sunday in the final preseason game in San Francisco. He said he’s excited to finally be on an NFL field playing against a different team instead of just practicing against teammates.

Play of the day

Second-year cornerback Damon Arnette was put to the test during Thursday’s practice and received a passing grade from his coach.

Arnette’s best play came when Nathan Peterman tried to connect with Dillon Stoner on a deep ball.

The former Ohio State star was step-for-step on the route and used his body to get position and intercept the pass before heading the other way for a big return.

Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley felt it was just one part of a good day for Arnette.

“We kind of tried to showcase him a little bit,” Bradley said. “That’s Coach Gruden’s philosophy is try to attack different guys somewhat in practice and just see where their maturity level is.”

Arnette responded favorably. “We’re cautiously optimistic on him because I think he’s starting to feel more and more comfortable with what is asked of him,” Bradley said.

High praise for Ragas

There may be only one roster spot available for training camp stars Trey Ragas and B.J. Emmons, depending on the health of veteran Jalen Richard.

Offensive coordinator Greg Olson seemed to indicate one of them has a lead in the battle.

“It’s a good competition between those two,” he said. “We like where both of them are at, but really Trey Ragas has opened our eyes here in these first couple of games and in practices we’ve liked what we’ve seen. So he has a little bit better handle on it right now.”

Making the cut

Thursday technically marked the end of training camp as the Raiders will switch to regular-season practice mode beginning Friday. That means it’s almost time to trim the roster to 53 players, a number the organization must reach by Tuesday afternoon.

Olson indicated there are still tough decisions to be made at several positions, so players on the fringe of the roster still have a chance to make an impression in Sunday’s game at San Francisco.

“I think there’s great competition at the wide receiver position,” he said. “That’ll probably be the most difficult decision … And the offensive line, there will be a good player that might not make the roster.”

The Raiders were a bit shorthanded for their final training camp practice as starting guards Richie Incognito and Denzelle Good both sat out. Incognito is dealing with a calf injury.

Linebackers Nick Kwiatkoski, Nicholas Morrow and Javin White remained out of practice, as did defensive end Clelin Ferrell and cornerback Keisean Nixon.

Kwiatkoski and Ferrell were working with athletic trainers off to the side. Richard was riding a scooter with his left foot in a boot.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.