Raiders training camp day 9 wrap: Game week prep begins

I know I said I wasn't gonna talk about the weather anymore, but it actually wasn't sweltering today. There was a nice overcast day with a slight breeze. That's what we call "news", so it needed mentioning.

It was military appreciation day at Raiders training camp. The Raiders had nearly 300 men and women form the Army National Guard, Marine Corps, and the Pathway Home veteran's facility in Yountville for wounded veterans and those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. So, there were a lot of military uniforms in the house. Always good to see some brothers in arms around.

More pads today, but the intensity was not what it was in the last practice with the scripted scrimmage.

Newly injured players today were tight end David Ausberry and cornerback Neiko Thorpe. Ausberry has a knee injury. Thorpe has an unknown injury and was working on the side with a trainer. See the entire injury report here.

It was a relatively uneventful practice day so I will stick to the highlights.

The pass of the day came from Matt McGloin. Mychael Rivera went on a post pattern and got behind Jonathan Dowling and McGloin put the ball right in his hands for about a 60-yard touchdown - proably 45 yards of which was in the air.

The best play of the day was a well-executed screen play from Matt Schaub to Darren McFadden. Schaub had the defense bite on a play fake, then put a nice easy pass to McFadden who had a crew of blockers in front of him including Stefen Wisniewski and Rod Streater to halp spring him for a big gain. Wisniewski especially was trucking down field plowing guys out of the way.

Best run came from Maurice Jones-Drew. As the play developed, there was a moment of no daylight and then suddenly a hole opened between the guard/tackle gap and MJD squirted through. He was running through that hole before it even existed. Looked like he got about ten yards before he was touched.

Best catch came from Seth Roberts who went on a crossing route from right to left and leapt high in the air over the top of Chance Casey to pull down a Matt Schaub pass. The undrafted free agent receiver has shown fantastic hands but needs to put on some bulk. He is a strong candidate for the practice squad.

Marcel Reece had a rare drop today. It's only worth mentioning because of the rarity of it. Not sure I'd seen him drop one this camp and usually has at least one really nice catch each day. He was steady the rest of the day as you would expect.

Not a lot of defense to speak of today. There were a few run stuffs at the line from the likes of CJ Wilson, Justin Ellis, and Torell Troupe. There is a good group of big defensive linemen in this year's camp. Could be an underrated group with some tough cuts.

Jansen Watson had a good play in which he ran Seth Roberts' route for him up the right sideline and Derek Carr threw it pretty much right to him. It was right in his breadbasket and looked like he might have the pick but lost it going to the ground.

The Raiders are beginning to prepare for their first preseason game which is this Friday in Minnesota. They aren't quite in the game week mode just yet but that's coming up fast. I hope you all are ready. Football is just days away. Just two more practices and after that, it's game time.

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