Raiders report: Joint practice leads to skirmishes with Rams
Preseason at a glance
Schedule
All practices at Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center, unless noted:
Thursday — Joint practice with Rams, Thousand Oaks, California
Friday — Off
Saturday — Preseason game vs. Rams, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California, 7 p.m. (KVVU-5)
Sunday — Off
Monday — Practice 7:30-9:30 a.m
Tuesday — Practice 7:30-9:30 a.m. (Rosters reduced to 80)
Quote of the day
Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby likes the joint practice format against opposing teams for a number of reasons. But, quite bluntly, he enjoys the extracurricular stuff that typically goes on in these settings gets quickly swept under the rug.
“This is when you can get your punches out,” said Crosby, laughing. “You can get away with a little bit extra. Tempers flaring; it is what it is.”
In other words, no one shows up to work the next day with an envelope awaiting them at their locker informing them they got fined by the NFL for going a little overboard.
“Exactly,” said Crosby, smiling. “You’re not going to get kicked out of a game. You can throw a couple of punches here and there.”
That was the case Wednesday when the Raiders and Rams got after it well after the whistle blew. Among the highlights were a couple of exchanges during special teams period in which players were involved in some fisticuffs. And while the coaches didn’t get involved, they were vocal participants.
“There was like seven or eight coaches screaming at one time,” Crosby said jokingly. “I’m like, everybody relax. It’s all good. And that’s just how it is. You get the intrasquad thing going, and people are just yelling for no reason.”
Ruggs bounces back
After a couple of early dropped passes — and choice words from Raiders coach Jon Gruden — wide receiver Henry Ruggs finished strong Wednesday by catching two long balls from quarterback Derek Carr.
One came in a red zone drill in which Ruggs showed off his blazing speed after catching the ball. The other was on a long throw.
“To see him respond, we know he can do it,” Carr said. “And again, he’s so young, he’s so raw. To see him bounce back, he’s a competitor. Not just a track guy. He loves football. He’s tough.”
Play of the day
It was inevitable that Raiders rookie offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood would look across the line of scrimmage and see Rams star defensive tackle Aaron Donald line up in front of him. And when it happened, Carr had a plan.
“I slid the whole line to the left, just to let Alex have a one-on-one,” Carr said. “Probably not a nice thing of me to do. But I did it just to see.”
Leatherwood held his own. And, more important, Carr lived to see another play.
“That’s what’s beautiful about days like this, you get so many different looks,” Carr said.
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.
