Raiders’ offense has a long way to go as team breaks before training camp

By Case Keefer (contact)

Saturday, June 15, 2024 | 2 a.m.

Cornerback Nate Hobbs had a feeling quarterback Gardner Minshew was going to target him on a third-and-long play during the first day of Raiders’ mandatory minicamp earlier this week. 

He couldn’t stop it anyway, getting fooled and allowing a long completion that was still bothering him long after the penultimate pre-training camp practice had completed.

“He gave me the top of the drop pump, I broke on the ball and he high-lowed me — first down,” Hobbs described. “And then he pointed at me after that. That (ticked) me off.”

Hobbs said he was so flustered that he then proceeded to jump offsides next play.

Perhaps that’s a reflection of how foreign the defense losing a snap to the offense has been at Raiders’ practice, as the former almost totally had its way with the latter overall.

The completion Hobbs lamented was a rare highlight for the Raiders’ offense against a defense that was one of the NFL’s best down the stretch last season.  

Having already dominated the prior three-week stretch of organized team activities (OTAs), Las Vegas’ defense amplified again at mandatory minicamp. Disruptions like turnovers (incumbent starting quarterback Aidan O’Connell threw three interceptions alone), blown blocks (star edge rusher Maxx Crosby bullied right tackle Thayer Munford) and pass deflections (cornerback Jack Jones was a menace) outnumbered successful offensive plays.   

The offense was so inefficient that there’s some concern among the Raiders heading to the start of training camp late next month in Costa Mesa, Calif. — just not everyone was willing to go that far.

“This is what I’ll say: I don’t think the offense is behind,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said. “I think the offense is where every team that has a new offensive coordinator and head coach is at right now. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a team say, ‘Man, the offense is really ahead of the defense right now in June.’ It’s always the opposite. It’s always, ‘The defense is ahead of the offense.’”

Pierce’s greatest strength as interim coach last year was saying the right things to motivate and connect with his players, so it should come as no surprise that he’s trying to instill confidence in his offense despite its struggles.

But he also contradicted himself in the same thought, comparing the offense’s struggles to the defense’s two years ago when he first arrived in town to coach under defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.

In the summer of 2022, newly-acquired star receiver Davante Adams and his offensive teammates looked like the defense does in practice now — unstoppable.  

Fielding an offense that was going to be decent at worst with a defense that had far more questions became part of the Raider Way over the last decade. It’s an all-new feeling this year now that the paradigm has flipped.

“You’re not a very mature or experienced football player if you’re getting frustrated in mandatory minicamp,” Adams said. “Obviously, I get frustrated at every play if it doesn’t work, to a certain degree, but it’s not frustration where you’re losing hope in your teammates or yourself or the potential of what you can do as a team.”  

The Raiders’ potential certainly rose with Adams on the field for the first time this summer during minicamp after he sat out of OTAs. He just didn’t get the ball much in the pair of practices.

Adams caught a few passes, mostly from Minshew, but didn’t make any of the highlight-worthy plays he prides himself on.

He has faith they’ll eventually come in new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s system. Getsy may not have been the Raiders’ first choice to man their offense, as they had much-publicized discussions with Kliff Kingsbury that fell through, but he’s ideal for Adams.

The pair spent seven years together with the Green Bay Packers as Getsy was both Adams’ receivers coach and later the passing game coordinator. Adams estimates he already knows “90%” of the Raiders’ new offense and is trying to help his teammates along.

Perhaps that’s part of the reason why, unlike last summer, Adams is staying upbeat even when the Raiders don’t look sharp.    

“It’s no secret we’ve got some dangerous weapons on the team as a whole, not to mention the offense,” Adams said. “So, if guys stay at it and keep learning and keep getting better and pushing each other — it’s a lot of competition right now — that’s going to make everybody better.”

The competition captivating everyone is at quarterback where O’Connell and Minshew are facing off for the right to start the season. Neither of them seized much of a lead at minicamp.

O’Connell made the best individual throws but was also more careless with the ball and slower to make decisions. Minshew completed virtually no passes downfield but got into a rhythm over the middle at one point and made a couple plays with his scrambling ability.

The final snap of training camp was fittingly a Minshew interception — to second-year cornerback Jakorian Bennett, who also picked off O’Connell the day before.

“Neither one of those guys have any familiarity with this offense so just taking advantage of all their reps, learning from their mistakes because obviously there’s going to be a lot of them,” Adams said. “It's the hardest position to play in football. It's not going to be easy, but they're continuing to push, and push each other.”

Pierce said the quarterback battle has, “risen the level of competition overall on our roster.” He was so pleased with the intensity level during Tuesday and Wednesday practices that he canceled Thursday’s final scheduled practice.

The team was informed of the decision in a meeting that morning, and it wasn’t the only message Pierce shared before sending the players away for five weeks.  

He also made it a point to encourage the offense.

“I told our guys, ‘Don’t get frustrated, just trust the process,’” Pierce said. “I know it’s repetitive, it’s a cliché, but it’s true. It’s on us as coaches to take out the things that we just can’t get right, but it’s also up to the players to get it right, to study the playbook and come back July 23 more dialed in, more focused and with more of an understanding of what to expect.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or