The Oakland Raiders' training camp proceedings in Napa resemble real, actual football just slightly more with each passing day. On Thursday, guys starting actually tackling each other for the first time.
It was not a fight. It was not hazing. It was on orders from the coach that live contact drills were underway.
Head coach Tom Cable informed his charges Thursday morning. "I don’t want any cut blocks, but this is a live period," Cable announced to the team, as quoted on the Oakland Tribune's Raiders blog.
Players loved the idea. "You need that," defensive end Jay Richardson told the Tribune. "It gets the guys a little juiced up to get a chance to go out there and hit."
Except that their hitting stunk, according to Cable.
"It looked like the first time we had been tackled or tackled anybody," Cable said afterward. "Obviously, it's been since last January since we tackled anybody, so we've got work to do."
Cable indicated there may be one or two more live tackling drills prior to the Raiders' preseason opener Thursday in Dallas.
Sports
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer so jonesing for NFL football that he will watch Cowboys-Bengals Sunday night on NBC in its entirety now matter how unbearably boring the game gets.
