RAIDERS AT WORK

By Scary Barry Rodriguez     September 28 , 2013

Oakland Raider's headquarters , Alameda , Ca - Yesterday the Oakland Raiders held one of their last full practices in preparation for playing against the Washington Redskins. The big story was that Terrelle Pryor practiced and was medically cleared to play. Yet coach Dennis Allen in a slight bit of football gamesmanship didn't name Pryor as the starter for certain . His podium time was just over five minutes.

  TE 85 Jeron Mastrud

The Scary one interviewed TE Jeron Mastrud ,  LB Nick Roach and Safety Usama Young. All of them chalked up the defeat against the Denver Broncos to poor execution. Remember the credo      " on any given Sunday " ! None of them would volunteer that Washington might be vulnerable to a steadily improving Oakland Raider team.

LB 53 Nick Roach

In my discussion with Jeron Mastrud I learned that he like Nick Kasa had originally played on the defense in college. Mastrud explained to me that Marcel Reese had scored off a " bunch formation " in the Denver game. I like many other scribes try and isolate the causes for troubles in the offense. Yet , the Raider offense did attempt many different types of offensive formations against the stout Bronco defense. It did come down to lack of execution !

QB  2 Terrelle Pryor

Next I spoke with  LB Nick Roach the " mike linebacker " or as he calls it the middle linebacker . Roach is a well schooled veteran aquired this year from the Chicago Bears. I asked him about  
Robert Griffin III 's hindered mobility . Roach advised me that RG3's running didn't look limited on the game film he studied. Additionally Roach mentioned that Washington had a good running game. Again , he echoed the thoughts of all the other Raiders in regards to execution as the difference maker.

SAFETY 26 Usama Young

Safety Usama Young kindly schooled me on the different types of coverages and his responsibilities on the different defensive sets. He was stone sober about what is required to be a winner. None of the team players have pie in sky thoughts at this time. They just want to improve !

TE 88 Nick Kasa

With a new organization and a top quarterback in waiting , Terrelle Pryor , the Raiders are building for the future. In this 2013 season , the winds of change are blowing through the NFL. Nobody , including the Washington Redskins , can take Oakland lightly . If they do they might find themselves on the wrong end of the score !

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