Silver And Black Pride
I’m channeling the 1970s rockstar in me and doing my best Alice Cooper impression by signing you all a non-auditory tune: “Schoooools out for summer!”
It’s graduation season, and the Las Vegas Raiders concluded mandatory minicamp and their entire spring practice session this week. So, it’s finally summer, and we have some downtime before training camp gets going. On that note, let’s get to this week’s mailbag!
Q: What do players do between minicamp and training camp, especially the rookies trying to make a team?
A: You alluded to this in your question; it definitely depends on what each individual’s status on the roster is.
A veteran who isn’t competing for a job will probably take a week or two off by going on vacation, playing golf, etc., just to mentally reset and get away from football for a little bit before it consumes their life for the next six months. They’re still working out during this time, but the training is going to be more focused on staying in shape, injury prevention and overall just getting the body prepared for the beating it’s about to take, rather than looking to make major gains at this stage.
Meanwhile, the guys who are fighting for a job don’t have that luxury. Both mentally and physically, they’re still pushing the limits to try to get that final edge to help make the team. Those guys might gear back on the training closer to camp, but you can’t focus too much on how your body is going to hold up through 17 regular-season games if you can’t make it to Week 1.
Essentially, the difference comes down to the players who are safe don’t need to be at their best in training camp, but the ones who aren’t do. So, the urgency is different over the next roughly six weeks depending on the individual’s roster status.
All of this being said, there are a handful of players around the league who will do nothing but chill during this period and show up to camp out of shape. Those guys typically don’t last long, though.
Q: What’s your over/under for the number of regular-season games until Fernando Mendoza starts?
A: This has been a popular question over the last couple of months, and I’m glad it’s popping up again now. The last time I dove into it, the schedule hadn’t come out yet, and I said the ideal situation for Mendoza’s first start is if the bye week is around the middle of the season. However, the Week 13 bye throws that out of the window, as I have a hard time seeing the Raiders waiting until mid-December to put the No. 1 pick on the field.
Now that we have the schedule, I’ll set the line at 6.5 games. That gives the rookie a month-and-a-half to see what it takes to prepare for a game as a starting quarterback in the NFL, while keeping him out of the fire and buying some more...
