ALAMEDA – Practice time is Jon Gruden’s gold. It’s a commodity precious to the new Raiders head coach, who lamented the league’s offseason practice restrictions at several points since returning to the Silver and Black in January.
It’s hard to blame the guy. Guidelines weren’t as strict a decade ago, when Gruden last coached in this league. He has limited windows to conduct important work, installing schemes and building chemistry on a roster altered significantly this offseason.
That’s why it was surprising to many when word leaked last week Gruden would be giving up an OTA.
“We heard last week that Santa might come and give us a day off if we had some good OTA days,” running back Jalen Richard said.