Graney: Was moving training camp the right call for the Raiders?
COSTA MESA, Calif. — There was an NFL team that traded an oven for the ocean for training camp. It did so for 17 days to escape the oppressive Las Vegas heat and create bonds and continuity with its players.
The Raiders claim this was a huge success.
Which will mean everything if they win this season. And not much if they don’t.
Where you hold training camp takes a back seat to your record after 17 games.
But the move can’t hurt if it creates a positive response from the team. Which it did.
“We accomplished a lot,” coach Antonio Pierce said. “The Raiders got better. We have more to do, but got off to a great start. The things we wanted to get through, we set the tone. We’re building our identity. The competition has been high.”
‘This bad boy’
Pierce is big on culture. Has been since being named interim coach midway through last season. Has continued to be since getting the job full time. Talks often about pride and poise and passion. Of playing the Raiders way. Of having toughness. Of offering no apologies.
“All the things Mr. (Al) Davis some 65 years ago started this bad boy with,” Pierce said.
He named specific players who stood out in camp. Wide receivers DJ Turner and Jakobi Meyers. Offensive lineman DJ Glaze. Tight end Brock Bowers. Defensive linemen Adam Butler, Malcolm Koonce and Maxx Crosby. Jack Jones at cornerback. All the safeties. Kicker Daniel Carlson and punter AJ Cole.
It was good for position groups, this ability to get away from family and friends and outside distractions to build the type of chemistry Pierce desires.
Good to be around one another so much.
“It has been great getting away,” cornerbacks coach Ricky Manning Jr. said. “You try and capture the things you can’t measure but you know are present. When it comes to the whole team-building aspect of this deal — some of the informal time these guys have had together — you get the opportunity to know one another.
“This was strategically put together for us to get the chemistry and come together and ultimately play for one another when we get into the journey of a season.”
There has been no more hyped position in camp than the Raiders’ defensive line, arguably one the best in the NFL. It had its way often.
The Crosby-led unit consistently got to quarterbacks Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell.
But expectations are just that. They mean about as much as where camp is held if results don’t come when things get real.
“I don’t ever really talk about expectations,” defensive line coach Rob Leonard said. “Don’t even think about them. It’s a waste of time. Just meet the standard every day. It’s easy being the underdog. Once they say you stink, and now everybody tells you how great you are. It’s my job to keep them humble and hungry.”
Lessons learned
It’s the first training camp Pierce has overseen, and the lessons he learned are plentiful.
His takes: To have patience. Not to rush decisions. Digest things and understand the Raiders still have injured players such as starting offensive linemen Kolton Miller and Jackson-Powers Johnson. Drown out the noise and focus on the team.
“At the end of the day, it’s training camp,” Pierce said. “We’re not in midseason form. It’s training camp form. We’re getting there. About to have our first preseason game (at Minnesota on Saturday). There are going to be more mistakes.
“That’s why we have to grow on those, so come (the season opener against the Chargers on) Sept. 8, we’re not making those same mistakes.”
Traded an oven for the ocean.
How important was it?
We’ll see. Winning matters.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.