The first padded practice of Raiders training camp brought the kind of clarity you can’t get in shorts and shells. Once the pads came on Monday under new head coach Klint Kubiak, the line play got more real, the rookies got a tougher test, and the players working back from injury had a chance to show they were ready for the next step.
A few names stood out immediately, and two of them were impossible to miss. Maxx Crosby and Brock Bowers looked fully back after finishing the 2025 season on IR.
Crosby came out like a player who had been waiting to hit somebody again, and he made life miserable for the Raiders’ offensive line at different points in practice. Bowers kept rolling too, carrying over his strong offseason in Kubiak’s new offense.
The knee injury from last season doesn’t appear to be slowing him down, and he was a problem for the Las Vegas defense while also making things easier for Kirk Cousins and the first-team offense.
Another major development came at corner, where Zeke Masses kept answering the challenge Kubiak put in front of him after minicamp. The coach had publicly wondered whether Masses could keep his spring momentum once the pads went on, and Monday suggested the answer was yes.
Outside of one penalty, he looked sharp in 1-on-1 work and stayed in the mix with the first-team defense. He also made several strong plays against the Raiders’ receivers and with the top veteran group in team drills.
At one point, Las Vegas even lined him up with fellow rookie corner Jermod McCoy alongside the 1s, which says plenty about the confidence the staff has in both young players.
On the other side of the rookie learning curve, Fernando Mendoza had a more uneven day. He opened camp strong, then hit some turbulence on Sunday, and Monday’s padded session brought more of the same.
He missed on a few throws before settling down late with a handful of completions. The bigger issue has been the procedural stuff - timeouts forced by the offense, plus penalties when Mendoza is under center.
Still, there doesn’t seem to be panic in the building. He’s a rookie, he’s getting room to grow, and the Raiders appear comfortable letting that process play out.
Tonka Hemingway also kept building on the momentum he’s created over the past several months. After a strong finish to his rookie year, he carried that into spring and early summer, and he was rotating with the first-team defense at the start of camp.
Monday mattered because pads separate camp buzz from real impact, and Hemingway backed it up. ESPN’s Ryan McFadden reported a “would-be” sack on Kirk Cousins, another sign that the interior pressure and run-stopping ability he can bring may be a real asset for Rob Leonard’s defense.
The most concerning note from the day came at right tackle, where DJ Glaze continued to look like the soft spot on what otherwise appears to be a better offensive line. Reporters around camp said the unit looked improved overall during the padded session, with some back-and-forth against a strong Raiders defensive front, but nothing resembling last year’s mess.
Glaze, though, didn’t help his case. After struggling in earlier non-padded practices, the third-year pro had another rough showing with the pads on, allowing sacks and tackles for loss.
There’s still time for him to settle in, but Monday didn’t do much to quiet the concern.
In Other News...
Raiders Suddenly Have A Right Tackle Problem They Can't Ignore
Training camp was always going to sort out the Raiders offensive line, but the early returns have only sharpened the focus on right tackle. DJ Glaze has been working there and the results have been uneven enough to draw attention, while the team continues to shuffle pieces elsewhere and look for the best way to stabilize the edge. Charles Grant is still backing up on the left side, and for now Las Vegas is leaning on a mix of young depth and undrafted competition rather than bringing in an established veteran.
Trey Zuhn III is one of the more interesting names in that mix, because he has already been moved into right tackle work with the second-unit offense after spending time at guard and center. That kind of reshuffling usually says as much about the coaching staffs urgency as it does about the players versatility. The Raiders do not need a camp battle that lingers much longer, though, because right tackle is quickly becoming one of the spots they can least afford to leave unsettled. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Quarterback Battle Is Showing Why This Offense Needs Time
The Raiders quarterback room has become one of the most watched parts of training camp, and for good reason. With Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza joining returning quarterback Aidan OConnell, Las Vegas suddenly has multiple passers trying to get comfortable in a new offensive scheme under a new coaching staff, and the early days have looked like what usually happens in a true installation period: some clean stretches, some rough ones, and plenty of learning on the fly.
For the Raiders, the bigger takeaway may be less about who is ahead right now and more about how much work still needs to be done before this offense looks settled. The quarterbacks are competing, sure, but they are also working together to sharpen the system and help the group improve collectively, which suggests this camp is as much about building the foundation as it is about deciding a pecking order. [Read more 🡒]