HENDERSON, Nev. -- It was a different vibe at the Las Vegas Raiders facility on Thursday, when the team held its first practice under interim coach Antonio Pierce.
From warming up to the musical stylings of seminal rap group N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton" to All-Pro receiver Davante Adams taking running back Ameer Abdullah to school in the locker room's new mini-basketball hoop to offensive linemen wrestling each other WWE style to even, yes, a new starting quarterback in rookie Aidan O'Connell, it was a new day.
Less than 48 hours after the Raiders fired Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler as coach and general manager, respectively, and replaced them with Pierce and Champ Kelly.