Takeaways from Training Camp: Day 1

First Look: Raiders Hit the Field, and We've Got the Intel

Author

Jesse Merrick
July 23, 2025

🏈 Raiders Training Camp: Day One Recap

We’ll usually stick to our regular Monday, Wednesday, Friday morning cadence for newsletters, but today was Day One of Training Camp for the Raiders—so you know we’ve gotta dive into some takeaways from their first day on the practice fields at Raiders HQ.

🗣️ Quote of the Day

"Yeah, of course. That was like the first thing I told him. I told him, like I hyped him up a little bit. I was like, 'Bro, you were insane. You were playing running back, you were playing linebacker,' but I was like, 'Yeah, we whooped y'all's ass.' So shout out to my brother and them, they definitely got after him for sure."

— Maxx Crosby on reminding his new teammate Jamal Adams that his high school team took it to him back in the day

🔥 Offensive Observations

  • Geno Smith and the offense didn’t place much emphasis on pushing the ball downfield today. They mostly stuck to the short game and mixed in a lot of screen passes.

  • Geno mentioned after practice that he thought they were great at the line of scrimmage and they used a lot of cadence too.

  • One highlight: Ian Thomas caught a deep ball over the middle from Geno for a touchdown.

  • Later, Geno targeted Dont’e Thornton deep, but the two couldn’t connect—even with Thornton’s speed, Smith actually overthrew him.

  • Sam Webb jumped a Geno Smith pass but dropped the INT—it would’ve been a pick-six if he could haul it in.

👀 Ashton Jeanty

  • Geno has been particularly impressed with Ashton Jeanty’s pass-catching ability out of the backfield:

“Ashton is a smooth running back out of the backfield. We’ve seen what he can do against contact and breaking tackles. The thing that’s really impressing me is his ability to catch out of the backfield. He’s a real natural in that aspect.”

— Geno Smith

  • We really got a look at that pass catching ability today and it’s clear this kid is dangerous with the ball in his hands at any level. He just has that wiggle that you can tell will give dudes fits. 

📋 Receiver & Tight End Notes

  • Jakobi Meyers, Dont’e Thornton, and Tre Tucker were the first three receivers out there today. Jack Bech worked with the twos and mostly lined up outside when I saw him.

  • The tight end room is crowded. We know what Brock Bowers can do. Michael Mayer continues to get shoutouts from the coaches and his teammates. But don’t sleep on Ian Thomas, who’s moved around a lot and run routes at every level since minicamp. At 6’3” and 253 pounds, he’s another intriguing piece the way he moves at that size. There are a lot of mouths to feed and you’re not going to see the Raiders run three tight end sets every down but I like what I’ve seen from Ian in the short time he's been with the team.

One thing we can’t forget though — Bowers is always going to eat first:

“He’s one of the better tight ends in the NFL. You know, I can’t get him the ball enough. I feel bad every time I don’t throw him the ball. So, I’m just trying to make sure that I maximize his ability, his talent because that’s gonna help our team”

— Geno Smith

🛡️ Defensive Notes

  • We got our first look at Jamal Adams in the Silver and Black. Ahead of practice, GM John Spytek said they view Adams more as a box safety than a deep coverage guy—and sure enough, that’s how they used him today.

  • Speaking of safeties, Jeremy Chinn continued to show off his versatility. He lined up all over, including in the slot in nickel packages and looks every bit the chess piece we saw during minicamp.

“I take a lot of pride in it. The guys really help me a lot as far as just communicating. When we have different rotations and different defenses coming in I may be in a completely different spot, whether it be position or just area of the field so it’s really just a testament to everybody that I’m playing with as well because they definitely make my job a lot easier.”

— Jeremy Chinn

🧱 Cornerback & D-Line Battles

  • I know everyone wants to know who the corners will be and that battle is officially off and running. It looked like Eric Stokes and Darien Porter got the bulk of the reps like they did during the offseason practices but Jakorian Bennett told us back then that he’s healthy and he got his fair share of looks at practice today so stay tuned for how that develops.

  • While Christian Wilkins works his way off the PUP list, it’s opened the door for other defensive linemen. Maxx Crosby mentioned a few names to watch:

“Jonah is a special talent, dude can play and he don’t even know it yet — he’s gonna be a hell of a player. Tonka, JJ, you got Tyree getting reps inside — he’s gotten reps inside the last couple years as well but we got a ton of talent…Adam Butler, he’s the first name I should mention. He’s been here, he’s been one of the best players on the interior in the league in my opinion in the last few years.”

— Maxx Crosby

🎙️ What’s Next

That wraps up Day One of Training Camp.

The Raiders are back on the field Thursday morning for day two, and we’ll have more insights and analysis for you in Friday’s newsletter. 

Also, don’t miss the first episode of our podcast, dropping Friday on the Silver & Black Sports Network YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcasts.

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