NAPA, Calif. -- Oakland Raiders rookie linebacker Shilique Calhoun put on a clinic in one-on-one pass-rushing drills in Sunday's practice. Calhoun used four different moves to blow by four different tight ends.
"That's a little bit of my tool box and also a little bit of what the veterans have shown me," Calhoun said. "I've got two great guys ahead of me in Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin, who have really been teaching me up, helping me understand what I can do to win … it's a strong pass rush move because we're going against a tight end and not against a back, in the backfield."
Calhoun, Oakland's third-round draft pick, acknowledged that the defensive linemen and linebackers doing some martial arts cross training has also helped.
"It's moreso understanding your body, understanding your leverage," he said. "Know the leverage between you and your partner, know who's dominating and who's receiving pressure. It helps a lot in pass rush when you get your hands on a guy, you have to understand if he's leaning on you, if you have him on his heels, it kind of gets you prepared working with your hands as well … it's martial arts but balance is the key to the game. You want to be balanced."
The moral of the story, then, must be this: Don't punch somebody in the head who is wearing a helmet. Because while Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said Sunday that left guard Kelechi Osemele and defensive end Mario Edwards, Jr. were "both talked to" after fighting twice and getting kicked out of practice the day before, Edwards had lingering issues as he sat out team drills.
"Just didn't think they were prepared to do the things that we need to do to help our team continue to work," Del Rio said. "They understand that's not how we do things; not what we're looking for. So we basically handled that, put it to rest. Both are going to be fine. I think Mario's a little sore but he'll be fine. Nothing major there. You can have unfortunate things happen when guys go at it like that so we're just thankful that nothing significant came of it and we learned a big-time lesson on how important it is to take care of each other and be good teammates and still challenge each other but be respectful."
Here are some other hot topics coming out of Raiders training camp:
Sunday marked the fifth straight day of practice, and the sixth practice in eight days in which they worked in full pads. "It's a good grind," Del Rio said. "It's the last stretch like this we'll have now that we get into [exhibition] games, game weeks. We made it through the hump day."
Running back/kick returner Taiwan Jones, who sat out two straight days of practice and then did not finish practice on Saturday, was a full go on Sunday. Defensive lineman Leon Orr returned to practice.
Amari Cooper had the catch of the day, if not the catch of camp when he went up and over the back of a prone David Amerson on a deep Derek Carr pass down the right sideline. And after hauling the ball in, Cooper spun away from Amerson and took off for the end zone. … Rookie strong safety Karl Joseph had a pretty breakup of a Carr pass to tight end Clive Wolford in 7-on-7 drills. … Michael Crabtree was stunned on a hit from Sean Smith on the left side but returned one snap later to beat DJ Hayden on the right side with a spin move. …cornerback Kenneth Durden had an interception on a ball that bounced off Marvin Hall at least two times. … The defense recorded a safety of Carr in team drills with the offense working from its own 1-yard line…left tackle Donald Penn had a limited work day and Matt McCants got reps there with the first-team offense, as did Jon Feliciano at center for Rodney Hudson at times.
Some Tweets from Sunday's training camp practice:
Derek Carr with the inside handoff to Jamize Olawale. https://t.co/BVNPxE9xEP pic.twitter.com/sXvoLGM956
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) August 7, 2016
Derek Carr hits Latavius Murray on a slant drill. https://t.co/o3qBXSnvYz pic.twitter.com/a0Sr6NT6d5
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) August 7, 2016
Michael Crabtree hauls in the sideline pass from Derek Carr. https://t.co/mCxP0KXL3d pic.twitter.com/8EJwP8GhPY
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) August 7, 2016
Seth Roberts looks the ball in. https://t.co/LUvAWp44Sk pic.twitter.com/W1tOioSlOZ
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) August 7, 2016
#Raiders QBs work on their short passing game with tight ends and running backs. pic.twitter.com/F9VikWagVb
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) August 7, 2016
Rookie RB DeAndre Washington works the heavy bag after practice. https://t.co/gTD9H8g5Cx pic.twitter.com/ElXXz3zQrY
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) August 7, 2016
With #KenStabler now in the @ProFootballHOF, which 'eligible' former #Raiders should be next?
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) August 7, 2016
The Raiders are off on Monday and return with a practice on Tuesday from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. The depth chart is also expected to be released Monday morning.
