Coach Jon Gruden called a meeting of the Raiders' rookie class before excusing players for a long weekend.
The gathering came one day after Thursday night’s throttling in Santa Clara, a nationally televised embarrassment that dropped the Silver and Black to 1-7 at the season’s midway point.
Gruden’s message was simple: We’re happy with your progress. We still need better.
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SIGN UP HERE “He was telling us that he needed more from his rookies,” third-round edge rusher Arden Key said Monday. “He needs more, more, more. He said we’re doing pretty good, but we need more. We need to lead the league in effort, and we’re not doing that. We need to give more effort, running to the ball and things of that sort. It was a wake up call for us.”
Demanding instant impacts of newly minted pros is a tough ask. Those drafted outside the first round who don’t skip beats are rare. Most of them don’t play significant snaps while learning the NFL ropes.
The Raiders don’t have that option. This season’s down the drain, with little left to glean from those on the roster. The Raiders, it seems, have entered survival mode. They must weather eight remaining games and get to an offseason loaded with draft picks and salary-cap space. Most veterans are on shorter-term deals and won’t be retained. Most higher-level, pre-2018 draft picks already have been cut.
This is a roster purge unlike anything in recent NFL history, leaving one group to lay the foundation for the future.
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This rookie class will be around, and be given opportunities and time to flourish under Gruden and defensive coordinator Paul Guenther.
The Raiders have an 11-man rookie class, with eight selected in this year’s draft. Many are expected to be mainstays in the starting lineup despite taking some lumps this season. Offensive tackles Kolton Miller and Brandon Parker could bookend the line. Key, P.J. Hall and Maurice Hurst will grow together along the defensive front.
Nick Nelson is integrating himself into the secondary, and punter Johnny Townsend is learning on the job.
Each guy has made costly mistakes this season, and Gruden wants young players to tighten up their play and produce more, more, more.
“He has a lot of confidence in us, but he wants better,” Key said. “As a rookie class, we are doing well, but he doesn’t want us to think of ourselves as rookies. He wants to play like vets, to play like we’ve been in the league five-plus years. We took it as a challenge, and we have to step up to that challenge."
That effort starts this week, which begins the season’s second half.
“That was a big wake-up call,” Key said. “Today we came out and practiced hard, and we’re going to keep building on that.”