Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce gives the ultimate gift to his players before the end of the offseason
The Las Vegas Raiders have been working so hard this offseason. They saw how close they got last season to the playoffs, after having a terrible season in 2022. They have realized that getting to the playoffs and possibly winning games there is actually doable. So, the work has been going.After three weeks of OTAs, […]
The Las Vegas Raiders have been working so hard this offseason. They saw how close they got last season to the playoffs, after having a terrible season in 2022. They have realized that getting to the playoffs and possibly winning games there is actually doable. So, the work has been going.
After three weeks of OTAs, rookie minicamp, and two days of mandatory minicamp, the Raiders have realized that they didn't need the third day of minicamp, which was originally scheduled for Thursday. Now, the Raiders are getting a head start on the rest of the offseason because they won't practice together again until training camp.
On Thursday, Antonio Pierce revealed why he thought he should give the team a day off. It's a long-winded answer, but it makes all the sense in the world.
"Productive. I asked the coaches from the jump to put X's and O's to the side a little bit in the offseason as we started up in phases one and two and got to know one another. Coaches on coaches, coaches to players, and then when the players came in, players to players. I wanted to really build that chemistry, that continuity, that trust, accountability, and communication that we talked about all offseason. I thought it went well. When we got on the grass, you could see the excitement, the passion, the love, the effort to play the game. I think the best part about the offseason, you're still in school. And in a sense when I say you're in school, you're learning. There's been adjustments that the coaches have come up with. We have new staff obviously on offense. Defensively, we added some new pieces to the coaching staff and a lot of good ideas.
"And then, you want to put it on the grass and see how it comes out and how it works with the players. And that's the best part about it because now over the next five weeks, as Patrick Graham would say, you get into the lab. Luke [Getsy], you get in the lab, Tom [McMahon], myself we get in the lab, and we make the adjustments necessary for what team we have now. Because when we first started in phase two, we didn't even have a draft. We didn't have the rookie class, we didn't have all these other pieces. And then you put it all together and you see how it starts to gel, and your identity and the look of your team starts to mold into what you want it to be."
This is the first offseason we are seeing Antonio Pierce get to run things, like how he does his camps, practices, and everything. He coached last season, but all the offseason stuff was still Josh McDaniels. Now we are getting to see how he likes it done, and while he is still a players coach, and players like playing for him, he is also really hard on them and is going to make them work.
But, that doesn't mean they don't need a break.
“I told them to decompress and remove themselves because we did a really good job with attendance this offseason. I said, come that second week of July you need to turn up the heat a little bit. Get that water and that pot start to simmer. But I said one thing we can’t do, is we can’t start over on the 23rd and 24th. We're not going backward.
"So, it is on you to come here, and the physical shape is on you to be ready mentally and emotionally. But more importantly, understand the playbook because we're going forward with whoever can understand the playbook. I want winners. Winners never stop working. You can decompress but I didn’t say you can stop working."
The Raiders will get back at it for training camp in mid-July.
Raiders DE Tyree Wilson is already showing his improvements before he even gets to hit anyone
The Raiders like what they’re seeing.
