Raiders use OTAs to mesh with new defensive coordinator Gus Bradley

By Case Keefer (contact)

Saturday, June 5, 2021 | 2 a.m.

An airhorn sounded to signal the end of the stretching period, Mötley Crüe’s “Kickstart My Heart” blasted out of the mobile DJ booth and the Raiders all raced off across two practice fields to join their respective position groups.

The pace and blare largely kept up for the entire hour of the second of three open-to-media practices as part of the NFL’s OTAs (organized team activities) Wednesday at the Raiders’ headquarters in Henderson.

New defensive coordinator Gus Bradley was one of the only steadying forces during the on-field session, calmly bouncing between different defensive units and watching their drills intently. His voice just barely cut over the noise when he’d intermittently offer encouragement or direction to his players.

“He has a great energy about him, the guys really soak in what he says,” defensive end Maxx Crosby said. “Everybody wants to succeed. Our defense has struggled as of recent and we’re trying to turn that around. We’re trying to get to the playoffs, that’s the No. 1 goal. So Coach Gus has been awesome and my experience thus far has been nothing but positive.”

The Raiders have turned out en masse for the voluntary portion of the offseason schedule with fewer than 10 players from the current 90-man roster having not been in attendance for at least one of the two open practices. Players have unanimously cited adjusting to Bradley’s new system as the priority of the current three-week stretch of OTAs leading up to mandatory minicamp from June 15 to June 17.

Paul Guenther had served as the Raiders’ defensive coordinator for the last three seasons, ever since coach Jon Gruden made his return to the sideline, but was fired following a Week 14 loss to the Colts last season. Rod Marinelli, who’s still on staff as defensive-line coach, filled in on an interim basis but didn’t have the time to make major changes.

Bradley isn’t bringing a full-blown overhaul either but he’s making pretty significant tweaks that include simplifying the Raiders’ defensive philosophy and building around the profile of his personnel.

“Things are going pretty good,” safety Johnathan Abram said. “I’m pretty much going down to what they call a box safety, strong safety. It’s interesting going from what we went to last year, playing a lot of split safety, playing high. This, I feel like, is going to be more suitable to my talents and my strengths.”

Former All-Pro strong safety Kam Chancellor was one of the stars of Bradley’s most successful defenses, with the Seattle Seahawks in the early 2010s, and the Raiders are hoping Abram can fill a similar role. On-field expectations have often been secondary focuses for Abram and his teammates when talking about their early impressions of Bradley, though.

They’ve been more apt to rave about the personal relationships the 54-year-old has started to build. So far, Bradley has lived up to the reputation of being a “player’s coach” that followed him during a four-year tenure as the head coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“He cares a lot more than just football and he wants guys to be a part of each other, be a team, learn together,” cornerback Trayvon Mullen said. “He’s going to put us in the best positions; he’s going to give us the best calls. We just got to go out there and play together. And one thing he told us is, ‘It’s never the call, it’s the players.’ And that’s true, we’ve got to go out there and come together.”

Las Vegas signed a couple of Bradley’s former players in free agency who could help with the transition. Although Pro-Bowl edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue is one of the few players who hasn’t been seen at OTAs yet, cornerback Casey Hayward Jr. has been around and made a big impact on his new teammates.

The offense and defense have largely been practicing separately, but that doesn’t mean players on the former side of the ball haven’t noticed a difference in the latter.

“It’s just an overall sense of belief; that’s the biggest thing,” receiver Hunter Renfrow said of changes to the Raiders’ defense. “Everyone believes in something there and I think that’s great. I think it starts with Casey Hayward coming in and him just being around it first off but it’s worked in the past and it’s a really good defense. I think Coach Bradley has done a great job of instilling that belief.”

Hayward should be able help fellow cornerbacks like incumbent starters Mullen and Damon Arnette with Bradley’s higher reliance on zone coverage at the position. There have been a few signs of that during defensive-back drills at OTAs.

Such instruction will ramp up as training camp, which begins July 27, gets closer but for now the focus rests just as much with everyone getting familiar with each other. And so far, the players consider the demeanor and approach of their new defensive coordinator a match.

“Coach Bradley is a guy who is going to talk to you about your vision for your life when you sit down and meet with him,” defensive end Clelin Ferrell said. “He is going to talk to you about trust and respect, because in this league, a lot of things dealing with business can kind of take out the aspect of loyalty, being a good person. So, I think the biggest thing with Coach Brad, first of all, he’s a good dude. I think that makes you want to play for a guy even more.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.