The Raiders didn’t walk into Tuesday’s joint practice with the Texans expecting a win on the scoreboard. They were there for something more useful: a real test. And Houston gave them one.
Las Vegas took a beating in the session, but it also got the kind of reps you can’t manufacture in a standard training camp practice. Facing a team that has been to and won a game in each of the last three postseasons is a different kind of evaluation, and the Raiders got plenty of it.
At quarterback, Fernando Mendoza and Kirk Cousins both had rough stretches against Houston’s secondary. Mendoza drew praise after the practice despite a shaky overall showing, helped by a few sharp throws and a big connection to Brock Bowers.
He also threw one pick-six and nearly had another interception. Cousins wasn’t any cleaner.
He also tossed a pick-six, struggled to generate much against the Texans’ defense and mostly settled for checkdowns, aside from a touchdown to Bowers during red zone work. Two pick-sixes and one touchdown is bad.
Duh.
The Raiders’ reworked offensive line had an equally hard time keeping the Texans off the quarterbacks. Mendoza and Cousins were under constant pressure, with Texans reporters pointing to multiple "would-be" sacks if the quarterbacks had been hittable.
Houston’s front kept driving the pocket back and wrecked the timing of the offense. The ground game didn’t offer much relief either.
Mike Washington Jr. had some success with the second unit, but Las Vegas was mostly stuck in place against Houston’s starters. There was no time and no room.
Grade: D-
One area that did hold up better was the Raiders’ young cornerback group. By most accounts, the secondary answered back after a shaky stretch and had a much cleaner day.
The tight ends and running backs did damage in the passing game, but the corners themselves didn’t draw many negative reports. Zeke Masses was credited with a few pass breakups, Jermod McCoy got first-team work and turned in some encouraging reps, and Treydan Stukes continued to work more and more with the starters.
Grade: B
The run game, though, never got going. Ashton Jeanty and the first-team offense had a difficult time against Houston’s elite run defense, even after Jeanty had success against the Texans as a pass-catcher.
On the ground, the Raiders couldn’t get anything established. Washington Jr. flashed with the second team, including a big run, but the first unit carries the weight here, and that part of the offense was stuck in neutral.
If Las Vegas can’t run against the best, the whole operation gets harder. That’s exactly what happened Tuesday.
Grade: D+
There was at least one encouraging development on the other side of the ball. The Raiders’ defensive line looked better against Houston’s offensive line than it did last week against the Arizona Cardinals.
Maxx Crosby and Kwity Paye both made noise against the run and the pass, with several sacks apiece and much better pressure overall. The run defense still dragged the group down, and that keeps the grade from climbing too high, but the front did force C.J.
Stroud into a handful of bad decisions and got after him enough to make the day count. Grade: average.
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