It’s been a little over a week now since the Raiders began training camp. And finally the pads are going on.
There are always a few players who look forward to pads more than most. One of those is full-back Jakob Johnson who makes his living hitting people.
“It’s the main part that I wait on every offseason,” Johnson said following Monday’s practice, adding that he’s “looking forward to it.”
“I mean, it’s the most important day of the year, right? The first day of pads, real football starts. All the stuff that we X-ed and O-ed out all year, we’re finally putting the metal to the floor and getting in there. So, yeah, for me, that’s the most exciting part about training camp. And once we cross that we can get back to the third down passes and all that stuff. But the first day of pads is important.”
Things got a bit “chippy” on Monday as Johnson put it. With players talking trash with those on the other side of the ball and getting in each others’ faces. Those chippy moments often boil over into more once pads go on.
And no one talks more than Maxx Crosby.
“I mean, I think we all know our front man trash talker here on the team, right? The Condor,” Johnson said of Crosby. “I mean, he’s going to always do his thing. So, we’ll see how that goes.”
Let the hitting and trash-talking commence. Though hopefully the scraps are kept to a minimum. Maybe save them for next week when the 49ers arrive for joint practices.
