The Las Vegas Raiders wrapped up their second padded practice of training camp on Wednesday. The Raiders will have the day off on Thursday before returning to the practice field on Friday.
Looking ahead a bit, the preseason is right around the corner. The Raiders will play their first game of the preseason in just 10 days, with the contest coming against the Minnesota Vikings on August 10th in Minneapolis.
During Wednesday's practice, we saw the quarterback competition in action once again and got an update on another underrated position battle. We go over that and a lot more in our takeaways from the Raiders' sixth training camp practice.
Raiders training camp takeaways
Who didn't practice?
Offensive linemen Kolton Miller and Jackson Powers-Johnson and wide receiver Jalen Guyton remain on the PUP list, while cornerback Brandon Facyson, safety Jaydon Grant, wide receiver Tulu Griffin, and defensive tackle John Jenkins didn't practice. Grant is a new addition to the injury report.
No CB Brandon Facyson, S Jaydon Grant, WR Tulu Griffin, or John Jenkins today at #Raiders camp.
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) July 31, 2024
Minshew outperforms O'Connell
O'Connell took most of the first-team reps on Tuesday, but Wednesday was Minshew's turn.
Though the competition has been fairly even thus far, Minshew put together his best practice in a Raiders uniform on Wednesday and was better than O'Connell, per Vic Tafur of the Athletic.
It was a step-in-the-right-direction practice for the Raiders' quarterbacks and offense, although the defense still won the day.
Gardner Minshew got a good amount of run with the ones today. He and Aidan O'Connell switched off. Both had a few good completions. Safe to say the offense looked the best it's looked this camp. Granted that's not a high bar to clear, so take that for what it's worth. #Raiders
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) July 31, 2024
Defense wins the day... again
Though the Raiders' offense had its best day of camp, Patrick Graham's unit was dominant once again on Wednesday. Maxx Crosby posted a strip sack, the run defense was stout, and the secondary had a good day, but did commit some penalties, per Vic Tafur of the Athletic.
Antonio Pierce started yelling at the defense to pick up the intensity after offense starts moving the ball.
— Levi Edwards (@theleviedwards) July 31, 2024
Two plays later, Maxx Crosby strips the ball as the quarterback is in throwing motion.#Raiders
With the offense still finding its groove, Las Vegas' defense will be the identity of the team heading into the season.
The defense still did their day today, but we got probably the best showing from the #Raiders offense I’ve seen this camp.
— Levi Edwards (@theleviedwards) July 31, 2024
Luke Getsy does a lot of fun things pre-snap to keep the defense honest and his unit are starting to pick things up.
Tre Tucker struggling but safe
The battle for WR3 was an intriguing storyline before Michael Gallup retired and Jalen Guyton was placed on PUP. Though he has struggled with drops and has had a disappointing camp, Tre Tucker is still the heavy favorite to be the team's WR3.
Minshew has had the better day thus far, but O’Connell also had some drops. Tucker continues to have a rough camp.
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) July 31, 2024
Bowers continues to look like the real deal, and it will be interesting to see how many carries he gets this season. #Raiders
Nah. There is a big gap behind him on depth chart right now. https://t.co/36ez5okugj
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) July 31, 2024
Tommy Eichenberg stands out
The fifth-round rookie out of Ohio State has had a quiet camp thus far but made some noise on Wednesday.
According to Levi Edwards of Raiders.com, Eichenberg made a nice tackle on Ameer Abdullah to stuff a run play and nearly pulled down a one-handed interception during team drills on back-to-back plays.
Tommy Eichenberg popping today for #Raiders. Just had back-to-back tackles in live action and then leapt and nearly picked off Aidan O’Connell.
— Case Keefer (@casekeefer) July 31, 2024
Eichenberg will be a prominent contributor on special teams for Las Vegas and could crack the linebacker rotation if he continues to perform well at practice and in the preseason.
