DT Christian Wilkins still sidelined to begin Raiders training camp
Wilkins is expected to be a big part of the Raiders defense this season. He suffered a jones fracture in his foot early last season that sent him to injured reserve. He was expected to be back and ready for the offseason program in April, but suffered a setback that had him miss all of OTA's in May and minicamp in June, but the hope was he would be back by training camp.
The longer this lingers, the more concerning it becomes.
"This has been a difficult recovery," head coach Pete Carroll said of Wilkins' injury back in May. "And he's done everything he needs to do. He's been here every day, he's here early, working hard. We're still working it. And he's not ready to get back out there. We're in the midst of a long challenging process. Fortunately there's a lot of time and we're going to take every bit of it. We've tried to be really diligent about the way we work and the way we wanted it and all that. He's been on board the whole time. But it has been challenging."
The entire team reports to training camp on Tuesday and begins practicing on Wednesday. They will once again do so without one of their defensive stars. And who knows when he will join them.
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New York Times
7 hours ago
- New York Times
Raiders training camp: 5 things we learned from the first week
HENDERSON, Nev. — It's not Las Vegas Raiders training camp without a little drama. From Chandler Jones to Davante Adams to Christian Wilkins, they've had something go wrong during the summer in each of the last few years. 'We don't really have control of that,' left tackle Kolton Miller said Friday. 'And it sucks, but the best you can do is just move on and stay focused because we have a lot of work to put in.' Advertisement But while Wilkins' release was surely the biggest story from the first week of training camp, it wasn't the only takeaway from the four practices. Here are five things I learned from Week 1 of camp. It had long been clear that something went wrong with Wilkins' recovery from a Jones fracture in his left foot. But what wasn't known was that the Raiders voided the guarantees in his contract over a month before training camp began. That decision came after a months-long dispute in which the Raiders maintained that Wilkins needed a second procedure to properly heal, but Wilkins didn't agree. That remained the case after the start of training camp, and on Thursday, the Raiders decided to move on from Wilkins. In their handling of the Wilkins situation, general manager John Spytek and coach Pete Carroll quickly set the tone for what they will and won't tolerate. Now, the focus for the Raiders turns to replacing Wilkins in the lineup. Powers-Johnson, a second-year offensive lineman, and defensive end Maxx Crosby are attached at the hip. They arrive early at team headquarters every day, stay late and hang out off the field. Just last year, though, Crosby and the young center didn't exactly hit it off. 'Me and Jackson did not have a great relationship,' Crosby said Wednesday. 'I'm hard on guys, especially young dudes. There's respect that's got to be earned when you come into this league, in this locker room, especially. There's a certain standard I expect from the guys. And he did a lot. The amount of growth he's had in the last year has been unbelievable.' Powers-Johnson has responded well to being challenged. He has cleaned up his diet, improved his off-field habits and adopted a more serious approach overall. Advertisement 'You have a choice every day if you want to get better or want to get worse,' Crosby said. ' … And that dude, he's got all the talent in the world. He's strong as an ox, he's a great dude, he's a baller, but it's about the details. And he's come in this offseason with the mindset that he's going to take that next step, and he's done that.' That has resulted in tangible growth for Powers-Johnson both on and off the field. There are high expectations for him in Year 2, but he feels ready to meet them. He showed flashes of his potential as a rookie, but he now believes he's found the consistency to be a high-level player. 'You get to the NFL, and then it's like, 'Oof, it's on you,'' Powers-Johnson said. 'It is a lot of hard work, but it's just so much fun, too. … That's what makes it easy to come into the building.' Powers-Johnson handled starting center duties for all of OTAs and the first several practices of training camp, but Jordan Meredith was with the first-team offense on Friday and Sunday. That's likely more about getting Meredith comfortable with quarterback Geno Smith in case of injury, but it could be something to monitor if it continues. Through the first week of training camp, the offense has largely focused on the quick game. Chip Kelly and company haven't pushed the ball downfield much as they continue to install the new scheme. That said, the Raiders cornerbacks have consistently been sticky in coverage. Eric Stokes and Darien Porter have gotten the most first-team reps, but Jakorian Bennett and Decamerion Richardson have also gotten looks. All those players have played at a solid level. Once the offense opens things up and preseason games begin, that'll create more of an opportunity for two of those four to separate themselves as starters. That won't happen for several weeks, but the corners have looked promising so far. Advertisement 'You see a lot of length out there and a lot of speed,' defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said. 'It's a space game in this league, and the receivers just keep getting better. … (Monday), we'll get to the physicality part in terms of seeing who's going to be able to support the run and see who can get their hands on people in press.' 🔴📽️ Live: DC Patrick Graham, Tyree Wilson, Isaiah Pola-Mao, Alex Cappa, and Michael Mayer address the media from the Intermountain Health Performance Center. — Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) July 27, 2025 Meyers and Smith have quickly hit it off. They've yet to play a game together, but their chemistry has stood out at every practice. But while those two are clearly in sync, Smith hasn't connected as often with the other receivers. It's not that Smith isn't looking their way, but they haven't been separating from defenders frequently enough. For Tre Tucker, his lack of size is always going to be a limiting factor. Dont'e Thornton has all the measurables, but he needs to become a more refined route runner. Jack Bech is more nuanced but doesn't have notable speed and is still working to find his fit. It's early, so there's no need to panic, but the Raiders are going to need more out of their non-Meyers receivers when the season arrives. You'd be hard pressed to find a roster that has anything negative to say about its new head coach, but you can feel how Carroll has changed the energy at team headquarters. It's not just about firing the guys up, although there's plenty of that. He has them believing in their potential. 'It's just great to see the energy that he continues to bring every single day,' Smith said Wednesday. 'Our first team meeting was jacked up, and guys were losing their minds in there. But Pete, he loves it, and I think he's only going to continue to get better as a coach because that's his mindset.' Advertisement Having won a national championship and a Super Bowl as a head coach, Carroll brings an impressive resume to the table. That'll earn you some respect, but it's not enough on its own. Carroll's ability to relate to and connect with players and coaches is the real kicker. 'It's a different perspective because I got to step away,' Carroll said Tuesday. 'I've had a chance to gather my thoughts about how I'm approaching (coaching) and what I'm trying to get done, not just in terms of X's and O's and all that, but in terms of the coaches and how to influence their growth and … connection with their players. There's a whole lot of chemistry stuff that I feel different about and I'm more in touch with. And I've been more demanding of our coaching staff in that regard, and that gets translated into (being) more demanding of the players as well.' Of course, that doesn't guarantee the Raiders will be successful this season. They have holes all over the roster and play in arguably the toughest division in the NFL. Still, Carroll has quickly established a foundation for them to build off of in the future. 'We've got to find ourselves,' Carroll said. 'We've got to figure out who we are.' (Photo of Jackson Powers-Johnson: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
USA Today
11 hours ago
- USA Today
Former Pro Bowl safety Jamal Adams is switching positions with Raiders
Safety seems like it's been a busy position for the Raiders this offseason. They gave Isaiah Pola-Mao a long term extension and their only free agent addition to sign more than a one-year deal was safety Jaremy Chinn, seemingly giving them two new starters to replace the losses of Tre'von Moehrig and Marcus Epps. Then the same day they added Chinn, they also signed Lonnie Johnson Jr. So, they seemed set. And yet just prior to the first day of camp they also added safety TJ Scott and former Pro Bowl safety Jamal Adams. Now, suddenly they were looking at a logjam at safety. But when Adams took the field, he was working with the linebackers instead. The 6-1, 213-pounder is trying to make a comeback after splitting last season between the Titans and the Lions' practice squad. And his former Seahawks head coach sees a change of positions is the best way to accomplish that. "I told him right off the bat, I want him to play inside," Carroll said of Adams. "He's always been so instinctive and so aggressive and such a run-through guy, been a fantastic blitzer over his time. So, I want to put him in position to do that. So, he's jumped right into the WILL spot, and that gives us some flexibility that we're going to grow with. He looks really good. He had a real serious injury a bit ago. He looks like he's back. Weighing a little bit more than he was before, he fit just right. I'm really anxious to see how he takes it." Linebacker has also been completely overhauled this offseason for the Raiders. Former starters Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo were allowed to leave in free agency. They then seemingly replaced them with former Steelers MLB Elandon Roberts and former Bucs OLB Devin White. Now both Roberts and White have some competition with the additions of Adams and former Bengals LB Germaine Pratt. Carroll has preached competition. He wasn't lying.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
Report points to another possible reason for Christian Wilkins release
If you've been watching and/or reading closely, you may have noticed a hint or two that the release of Raiders defensive tackle Christian Wilkins may have related to something other than a dispute over his lingering foot injury. Or, more accurately, that the Raiders could try to point to something other than a disagreement over how to repair the injury to justify not paying him more than $35.2 million in remaining guaranteed money. While the specifics have yet to leak, there's definitely something dangling. In the media ecosystem, some junk that has been making the rounds. Something that has yet to be properly fleshed out for reliable reporting. Josina Anderson recently posted an article that contains an even stronger indication as to the "something else" that could become an issue. "Some league sources believe an incident involving a teammate may have factored in-part into the Raiders' fatigue and release of defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, beyond the management of his foot injury as the reported predominant cause," Anderson wrote. "The Raiders have not officially confirmed an incident or a complaint involving Wilkins and a teammate, while another direct league source confirmed awareness of a situation in which 'Christian (was) playing around.'" One key as to whether that alleged incident will become a factor in the legal fight is whether the Raiders released Wilkins for something like 'personal conduct that has adversely affected' the Raiders. That's how the Ravens framed the release of safety Earl Thomas in 2020, in an effort to avoid his otherwise guaranteed salary. Remember, a "full guarantee" isn't. It means that the player is guaranteed to receive the money if he's released due to injury, skill, or the salary cap. He can, in theory, be released for other reason(s) that would provoke such a move — including 'personal conduct that has adversely affected' the team.
