German_Force » camp arm to diminish the wear and

ALAMEDA Jordan Scarlett Jersey , Calif. (AP) — Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock were invited by Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis for an event in Las Vegas last week, a year before the team’s planned move to Sin City.The Raiders coach and general manager were set for a night on the town with their wives when those plans got altered with the news that the NFL’s most prolific receiver, Antonio Brown, was available from Pittsburgh.Just 24 hours later, Mayock had completed his first major move since leaving his old role as television draft analyst to join an NFL front office and all those plans the Raiders had made were overturned.“The wild card was all of a sudden understanding that this guy might be available,” Mayock said this week. “That was the wild card. That was not in our free agent planning. When all of a sudden we realized we might have an opportunity to compete for his services, it changed everything.”The Raiders seemed poised for a rebuilding year after dealing away foundation pieces Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper last year in trades that netted three additional first-round picks the next two years. But the trade for Brown set them up to begin a spending spree that the Raiders hope can make them a contender in their final season in Oakland before the move to the desert.The Raiders also gave big-ticket deals to free agent tackle Trent Brown, safety Lamarcus Joyner and receiver Tyrell Williams and have committed more than $200 million in contracts just six months after trading Mack to Chicago because they didn’t want to give him a mega-contract as the highest-paid defensive player in football.“We’ve gotten better, we have some resources in the draft that can continue that process and as I’ve said all along, I don’t think you can rush this,” Gruden said. “You have to do what you deem is right. Players don’t become available all the time. You can’t make all the necessary improvements. It takes a little bit of time. But we’re confident that we’re heading in the right direction.”At least the Raiders now appear to be moving forward after taking a significant step back in Gruden’s first season. The team never recovered from the deal reached a week before the opener that sent Mack to the Bears for a package that included two first-round picks after he held out in search of a lucrative long-term contract the Raiders weren’t willing to offer.After starting last season 1-5, Gruden then sent Cooper to Dallas for another first-round pick and the rebuild was on. Oakland finished 4-12 just two seasons after breaking through with 12 wins and the team’s only playoff berth since 2002.Plenty of holes remain on the roster even after this week’s big spending spree with the most glaring being at pass rusher where Mack has yet to be replaced. Oakland has only one edge rusher under contract for 2019 in Arden Key David Montgomery Jersey , who had just one sack as a rookie.The Raiders finished with a league-low 13 sacks last season — 17 fewer than the next-worst team. Oakland still would like to find an edge rusher in free agency and also figures to target that position the draft when the team has picks No. 4, 24, 27 and 35 in the first two rounds.Mayock and Gruden also are looking for more help in the secondary, a playmaking linebacker, and possible help on offense at tight end, running back and guard.Filling all those holes in the draft and the end of free agency seems far-fetched, but getting a good start on the task will give the fans in Oakland a more desirable product to watch this season and create excitement in Las Vegas for the team’s planned arrival in 2020.“There is a lot of history here, so I definitely wanted to come and be a part of the history and I also wanted to be a part of new beginnings,” said Joyner, who was attracted by the move. “Hopefully we do a lot of great things this year and make Nevada even more excited to have us.”The Raiders hope the move to Las Vegas, where they will play in a fancy new stadium rather than the rundown Coliseum and have a more modern facility, will make the team a wanted destination for free agents in the future.A recent poll of agents by Sports Illustrated’s “The MMQB” listed Oakland as the second-least desirable team to join in free agency Riley Ridley Jersey , ahead of only the Buffalo Bills, but that figures to change next season with the lack of a state tax in Nevada only making the location more desirable for players.But those factors won’t be as important in the future as Gruden and Mayock hitting on the draft picks to replenish the roster and make the team a contender once again.“I think the reason for me wanting to come here was to advance to Nevada with coach Gruden,” Joyner said. “I have come into contact with him throughout my career and he has always expressed to me how highly he thought of me as a player. When it comes to the state income taxes and stuff, that’s the kind of conversations you have with your wife and your kids, but that didn’t have anything to play into me wanting to join this great organization.” INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Chad Kelly insists a few months away from football helped put life in perspective.He read the Bible while living in his parents’ basement. He recommitted himself to the game. And now he believes he can avoid any more trouble off the field.The once-promising young quarterback thinks his latest humbling experience will help jump-start his career with the Indianapolis Colts in what even he acknowledges could be his last NFL chance.“You just have to put in enough work for those guys to trust you because it’s going to take some time,” he said Wednesday. “There have been things that have happened in the past, but I am up for the challenge to prove to these guys I am dedicated to this.”Only time will tell if Kelly will be one of the few who actually turns the corner, though he may have found the perfect landing spot.His new coach, Frank Reich, was a longtime backup to Kelly’s uncle, Jim, a Hall of Fame quarterback with the Buffalo Bills. The man who signed Kelly Greedy Williams Jersey , general manager Chris Ballard, decided to take a low-risk gamble by establishing guidelines for Kelly to meet. Kelly declined to elaborate on any specific provisions.Expectations are low in Indy, too, given that the Colts already have an established Pro Bowler in Andrew Luck, a solid backup in Jacoby Brissett and a known quantity in Phillip Walker as their No. 3 quarterback.And with Luck missing his second week of offseason workouts because of a strained calf, Kelly will get even more snaps so he can learn a new offense.“He has come in and he’s picked up the system well,” Reich said. “I think he’s — from what we saw at the rookie minicamp — he has progressed from there. I think Chad shows to have a little bit of a knack and some instincts. He has made his share of mistakes out there, but I think he’s certainly showing he belongs out there competing.”NFL scouts all saw his promise. And the Denver Broncos overlooked the potential pitfalls when they took Kelly with the final pick of the 2017 draft.He was booted off Clemson’s roster after arguing with coaches during the 2014 spring game. He pleaded guilty to a non-criminal charge of disorderly conduct stemming from a December 2014 incident in which he allegedly punched two bouncers and threatened to use an AK-47 to “spray the place” after he being ejected from the bar.In October 2016, Kelly charged onto the field when a bench-clearing brawl erupted during his brother’s high school football game. And then there was the torn ACL that ended his senior season at Ole Miss.There was more trouble in the NFL.After missing his entire rookie season to rehab from the knee injury, he took only one snap, a kneeldown, before he was cut in 2018 after he left a Halloween party and entered a house belonging to a man and woman he did not know. In March Sione Takitaki Jersey , he pleaded guilty to a second-degree trespassing charge.Over all those months, Kelly pondered his future. A few teams were interested but none was willing to sign him.“I really didn’t know,” he said when asked if he thought he’d get another chance. “I really couldn’t tell you what I was feeling like — you were kind of lost, you kind of look to the good Lord, you talk to close friends and family, and at the end of the day you’ve got to move on. You’ve got to get ready for whatever life brings you. I was just reading, doing as much as I could to stay active on the field and in the weight room.”Indy finally offered him a tryout earlier this month during a rookie minicamp and apparently he did enough during those three days to convince Ballard he was worth a chance. Kelly signed May 20.If he sticks around long enough, Kelly will at least give the Colts an extra training camp arm to diminish the wear and tear on Luck. But if he stays out of trouble and finally starts playing football the way many believe he can, Kelly could give the Colts another solid backup option.“There is something there,” Reich said. “He can throw on the run, and then when he moves in the pocket I think he’s got some natural movement instincts and can deliver the ball from different arm angles. He has played a lot of football for his age and thrown a lot of balls.”