The Las Vegas Raiders planned to conduct their penultimate practice of training camp Monday afternoon on the natural grass at Intermountain Health Performance Center.
Mother Nature had another idea.
A lightning warning forced the Raiders to finish Monday (in shoulder pads and shorts) on their indoor field, leaving them with Tuesday’s practice to prep for Thursday’s preseason finale with the San Francisco 49ers. Two days later, they’ll be forced to whittle their roster down to 53— making Tuesday and Thursday the final auditions.
Running back Ashton Jeanty was absent (along with wide receiver Dont’e Thornton and tight end Carter Runyon) and rookie Mike Washington Jr. manned his first-team post with Dylan Laube getting the occasional rep. Laube mostly worked with the second-team offense — along with Dare Ogunbowale.
Here are other observations from Monday’s practice:
Kirk Cousins, Tre Tucker connect on bomb: Cousins showed his arm strength and touch but five days after his 38th birthday, finding Tucker down the field for one of the longest connections of camp. Tucker beat cornerback Darien Porter deep, outran rookie safety Treydan Stukes and caught a 50-plus-yard pass from Cousins as he crossed the goal line without breaking his stride.
Cousins handled all the first-team reps for the second consecutive practice — after watching last Thursday’s preseason win over the Houston Texans while Fernando Mendoza started behind center — and added scores in a goal-line period to Washington in the flat and tight end Michael Mayer inside on a slant.
Mendoza, working with the second-team offense, had a scoring pass in the goal-line period on an out route to wideout Brandon Johnson — following a pass breakup by linebacker Tommy Eichenberg.
Stukes getting steady first-team reps: Stukes has been a staple on the first-team defense the last two practices, teaming with safety Jeremy Chinn. Incumbent starting safety Isaiah Polo-Mao has played with the second-team defense and mixed in with the first.
“Safeties are a big part of this defense and he’s done a great job with that,” defensive coordinator Rob Leonard said Monday morning. “I’m just not going to stop pushing him. He’s done a very good job. I think he played a lot faster last game, and I think again the instincts are self-explanatory.”
As for the other rookie defensive backs, Jermod McCoy and Hezekiah Masses have steadily worked with the second-team defense.
Mixing and matching on the offensive line: Jackson Powers-Johnson and Caleb Rogers continue to split series at right guard with the first team, also repping with the second team. Whoever plays with the first-team offense will spend a series with the second-team offense, trading with the other.
Additionally, rookie third-round draft pick Trey Zuhn III played second-team center — having practice across the offensive line throughout training camp — for the second straight practice while Jordan Meredith repped at left guard with Atonio Mafi.
“The more people that you can just put in and play because it’s a long season, the better the offensive unit’s got to be,” starting center Tyler Linderbaum said. “We need seven, eight, nine guys that are ready to play after one snap. So, the more reps we can get with each other, the better off our unit’s going to be.”
Maxx Crosby dominant again: The Pro Bowl pass rusher would’ve recorded at least two sacks with effective pressure, forcing Cousins to move in the pocket. Undrafted rookie defensive end Cian Slone also flushed Mendoza from the pocket and likely would’ve had a sack in a game setting.
Scout looks incorporated: With plenty of reps of ones versus ones, the Raiders during their last two practices have also implemented a scout-team look — signaling their prep for the regular season.
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.
