This season is an integral one for the Las Vegas Raiders. With Antonio Pierce now the permanent head coach, the team is looking to re-establish itself as a postseason contender behind leaders like Maxx Crosby and Davante Adams.
This journey starts in training camp as the team begins to work towards accomplishing its goals. Just as important in camp is building chemistry and camaraderie within the group, and the head coach believes the Raiders are doing just that so far.
Pierce believes the Raiders are building something ‘really special’ in terms of their chemistry and not just with the players on the roster, but with the staff as a whole, via Aidan Champion of KGET.com:
“I think we’re building something really special,” Pierce said at training camp on Tuesday. “It’s a tight unit, not just with the players, but our staff, even our scouting department. We’ve got a lot of our college scouts here and they’ll be at practice again today. But just eating together, being in their meetings, all of us getting together and understanding what we’re all trying to accomplish. And hearing it from myself and from [Tom] Telesco, and then that going down.”
This feeling goes from the top down as team captain and leader Maxx Crosby echoed those same sentiments about the importance of this team coming together and getting better every day:
“It’s just about being around each other,” he said at training camp last week. “We have nothing else to do. AP said it very loud and clear: If you don’t want to be here, if you got something else more important when you’re out here, you just go to [Tom] Telesco and ask for your release. We’re here to get better, get closer and just focus on improving every day.”
The expectations from the outside aren’t really high for the Raiders, but this group has preached all offseason how much they believe in themselves. Having that mindset and everyone pushing each other on a daily basis can really make a difference.
With Pierce in charge and Crosby leading the way on the field, the rest of the team has no other choice but to follow suit or not be around.
Antonio Pierce expects all Raiders players to play in preseason
In addition to training camp, the Raiders will also have three preseason games to get themselves ready for the regular season, and Antonio Pierce expects everyone to play.
The Raiders head coach made it clear that he expects every player to play in the preseason. Of course, injuries and other factors will determine the schedule, and some players will play more than others, but health permitting, no one will be excused from the preseason as a whole.
