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Coach Jon Gruden called a meeting of the Raiders rookie class before excusing the players for a long weekend.
The rally took place one day after Thursday night's run in Santa Clara, a televised embarrassment on national television that brought the Silver and Black back to 1-7 midway through the season.
Gruden's message was simple: we are satisfied with your progress. We still need better.
"He told us that he needed more of his rookies," said third-place runner Arden Key on Monday. "He needs more, more, more. He said we were doing very well, but we need more. We have to lead the league effort, and we do not do it. We have to put in more effort, run to the ball, and things like that. It was an alarm clock for us.
Requiring instant impacts from new professionals is a difficult issue. Those who have been recruited outside the first round and who do not skip time are rare. Most of them do not play important clichés when learning the NFL strings.
Raiders do not have this option. This season is at the edge of the water, with little to glean from the players. The Raiders, it seems, went into survival mode. They must survive eight remaining games and get to a dead season filled with draft picks and salary cap space. Most veterans have short-term contracts and will not be retained. Most pre-2018 high-level project selections have already been reduced.
This is an alignment purge that has nothing to do with the recent history of the NFL, leaving a group laying the groundwork for the future.
This rookie class will be present and will have the opportunity and time to flourish under Gruden and Defense Coordinator Paul Guenther.
The Raiders have a rookie class of 11 men, with eight selected in this year's repechage. Many should be the mainstays of starting training despite some bumps this season. Offensive tactics Kolton Miller and Brandon Parker could end the line. Key, P.J. Hall and Maurice Hurst will grow together along the defensive front.
Nick Nelson integrates into high school and bettor Johnny Townsend learns on the job.
Each player has made costly mistakes this season and Gruden wants younger players to tighten their rules and produce more, more, more.
"He has a lot of confidence in us, but he wants better," Key said. "As a rookie class, we are fine, but he does not want us to think of ourselves as recruits. He wants to play like veterinarians, as if we had been in the league for over five years. We took this as a challenge, and we must take up this challenge. "
This effort begins this week, which begins the second half of the season.
"It was a great awakening," said Key. "Today, we went out and practiced hard, and we will continue to bet on that."
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