We try not to overreact to offseason practice evaluations. After all, as Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, it's just "football in shorts." But sometimes we see practice reports that we just can't ignore.
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Tuesday in Oakland was one of those days. The Raiders' quarterbacks are not capable of performing basic tasks at this stage, according to various reporters present for the team's first day of minicamp.
From Steve Corkran of the Oakland Tribune: "In 19 years covering the NFL, today's showing by Matt Flynn, Tyler Wilson, Terrelle Pryor and Matt McGloin rates as one of the worst in memory."
An Associated Press reporter started an article with what he saw out of the Raiders' passing game: "Batted balls. Wounded ducks. Interceptions. Passes into the turf."
From Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle: "It was the opening of duck season, er, the Raiders three-day minicamp, on Tuesday as the team's top three quarterbacks picked up where they left off in the team's organized workouts the last month."
And ...
"On two straight throws, starter Matt Flynn lobbed two wounded ducks downfield -- and they were the plays of the day," Tafur wrote.
It appeared the quarterbacks struggled equally, although the practice reports about Pryor were particularly negative. He had four passes batted down alone. Flynn said all the batted balls were "nerve-wracking."
The Raiders are professing patience publicly because they have to.
"I don't allow that to frustrate me," coach Dennis Allen said. "I understand where we're at in the season."
It sounds like what we heard from the Raiders' offseason practices one year ago.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
