Raiders training camp 2019 day two recap: Antonio Brown return to practice a brief one

The most exciting part of today’s practice happened right from the start of the day. When Antonio Brown took the field with his teammates. The enigmatic star receiver had been on the Non-football injury list. That designation lasted one practice, but it didn’t mean Brown was back full.

Brown passed his physical, but his day lasted about as long as it took to report he had returned. The team ran drills to start practice before stretching and warmups. Once they began that period, Brown’s day was done.

Initially the expectation was that Brown would be out about a week. And at this rate it’s hard to tell exactly what to expect from him. It could be he just wanted off the NFI and the team still plans to ease him onto the field.

“You guys will see AB soon enough,” said Derek Carr on day one. “He’s fine. We’ll see him soon enough and how awesome he is.”

We saw his talents in OTA’s and minicamp. But that doesn’t mean he and Derek Carr don’t need the work in camp.

Pads come on tomorrow, so that may not be when we see him full go.

Catch of the day

There wasn’t much to choose from for this one. Unlike day one where Derek Carr was going deep with regularity, day two was mostly short passes and runs. By default, the catch of the day went to JJ Nelson who got behind cornerback Keisean Nixon on a go route. Derek Carr’s pass was a little bit short, and Nelson adjusted to make the catch going to the ground for the touchdown. It wasn’t pretty, but he held onto it.

Taking it in stride

Nelson is known for his speed more than anything. But rookie Isaiah Johnson stayed with him stride for stride on a pass up the right sideline to force an incompletion.

Defensive play of the day

That play by Johnson was good, but I have to give it to Brandon Marshall who made his presence felt on day two. The veteran linebacker missed all of the offseason with an injury, so he was certainly fresh. A couple times he came up the middle to stuff runs.