Gästebuch » Antonio Brown celebrated his first training camp

NAPA Rodney Hudson Jersey , Calif. (AP) — Oakland Raiders by taking a hot air balloon ride over the Napa Valley.Coach Jon Gruden thought it was tame by the flamboyant wide receiver’s standards.“I expected a little bit more than a hot air balloon,” Gruden said Friday. “I thought he might jump out of an airplane and parachute here himself. He’s going to add a lot of life to this organization at a position where we need some explosive plays.”Brown actually arrived late Thursday while the remaining veterans checked in Friday, three days after rookies showed up to get a head start on camp.But the 31-year-old was placed on the non-football injury list and will not be on the field for the team’s first practice Saturday. The Raiders did not specify what Browns’ injury was.The Raiders will spend a little more than three weeks at the picturesque facility preparing for their final season in Oakland ahead of their move to Las Vegas in 2020.Entering the second year of his second stint with the Raiders, Gruden said his team has a lot to accomplish to improve upon a 4-12 finish in 2018.“We are very confident that we’ve taken some really good steps in building our football team,” Gruden said. “We need some veterans to come through and we need some young guys to come through. We feel like we’ve gotten faster, we feel like we’ve gotten bigger. We’ve got a lot to prove, that’s for sure.”The Raiders are banking on a nucleus of veterans and a large group of younger players led by three first-round picks in this year’s draft: defensive end Clelin Ferrell, running back Josh Jacobs and safety Johnathan Abram.“You see the fact that not only did they show up in shape, they also showed up (and) had their heads in the frikkin books,” general manager Mike Mayock said.The Raiders have a list of issues to address in the coming weeks. Richie Incognito’s two-game suspension has left a void at left guard; there could be as many as three new starters in the secondary; and the team made a bevy of changes around quarterback Derek Carr.“We’ve got a lot of change around him, hopefully for the better,” Gruden said. “He has done a great job not only with the system, he’s done a great job leading the group. He’s clearly established himself as not only an excellent quarterback but a premier leader on this team.”A lot of attention will be focused on Carr’s relationship with Brown, the colorful, four-time All-Pro receiver whose finish in Pittsburgh was punctuated by a feud with Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.“I expect a lot more drama from number 84, I really do,” Gruden said. “I told Antonio, ‘Try not to yell at Derek, yell at me when you have a problem.’ Then he started yelling at me. I said Lamarcus Joyner Jersey , ‘Don’t yell at me, yell at (Greg) Olson, he’s the offensive coordinator.'”There were more than players and coaches wandering the halls of the Marriott Hotel on the eve of the Raiders’ first training camp practice Saturday. HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ is chronicling the team throughout camp, meaning extra cameras and people on the field and in meeting rooms.“Jon and I are kind of old school, and the reason you go away to training camp is to get away from all the distractions, get together, bond, learn your assignments, no distractions, no intrusions,” Mayock said. “Hard Knocks is an intrusion but it was handed to us. So it’s up to us to deal with it and I think we’re dealing with it in a professional way.”The Raiders don’t have a full squad in camp. Left guard Denzelle Good will begin the year on the physically unable to perform list after undergoing lower back surgery five weeks ago. Fullback Keith Smith joined Brown on the non-football injury list with a knee injury he suffered working out in the offseason. Sean McDermott didn’t like the hit that knocked Josh Allen out of the game, and he sure didn’t like the way the Buffalo Bills finished without their rookie quarterback.The Oakland Raiders also lost their QB and a receiver in what’s looking like a lost first season under Jon Gruden.The Bills fell 20-13 in Houston on Sunday, with the Texans getting the go-ahead score when Johnathan Joseph intercepted Nathan Peterman’s pass and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown with 1:23 remaining.Allen threw for 84 yards and ran for 20 before he was hurt when Houston’s Whitney Mercilus hit his right elbow with his helmet after Allen’s pass. McDermott was angry about the hit and complained to officials that it was late.“We talk about protecting the quarterback and I thought it was late,” McDermott said. “But at the end of the day, the officials rule over the game, and obviously, they didn’t.”Peterman threw two interceptions, the second one coming after Joseph’s score.“At the end of the game … he was probably trying to do too much,” McDermott said. “I don’t want to paint it all bad Brandon LaFell Jersey , but we’ve got to protect the football and make sure we’re smart.”Derek Carr and Amari Cooper both left the Raiders’ 27-3 loss to Seattle in London with injuries. Carr was holding his left arm gingerly after getting sacked six times by the Seahawks and wouldn’t have returned to the game had Oakland gotten the ball back, though he said afterward he was OK. The bigger concern was for Cooper, the two-time Pro Bowl receiver who was evaluated for a concussion after a helmet-to-helmet hit from safety Bradley McDougald. Gruden believed it should have drawn a penalty.“I thought so,” Gruden said. “I’m just hoping Amari is OK. I’m not going to say anything else. I hope he’s all right. He’s a great kid.”Wide receiver Seth Roberts also departed because of a concussion with 11 minutes remaining.The Atlanta Falcons also lost multiple receivers, but were able to overcome their departures in a 34-29 victory over Tampa Bay.Calvin Ridley, who was leading the Falcons with six touchdown catches, went out in the first half with an ankle injury and didn’t return. Mohamed Sanu was sidelined in the second half with a hip problem after hauling in a 35-yard touchdown pass.Also in that game, the Buccaneers lost defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who walked slowly off the field in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury.It appeared the Rams had lost receiver Cooper Kupp when he was carted off the field after wrenching his left knee when Broncos safety Darian Stewart horse-collared him on the Denver sideline in the second quarter. But he made a surprising return in the second half.In other injury news:—Ravens left guard Alex Lewis was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with a neck injury after being hurt in the first minute of the fourth quarter of a victory at Tennessee. Lewis had been blocking on a run by Gus Edwards when he turned away from the pile slowly and went down. Trainers strapped him to a backboard and carted him off the field.Coach John Harbaugh said there’s a lot of optimism for Lewis, who was getting a CT scan at the hospital.For the Titans, linebacker Derrick Morgan hurt a shoulder and did not return, and left guard Quinton Spain departed with an injured right shoulder.—Vikings cornerback Mike Hughes limped off in the fourth quarter of Minnesota’s victory over Arizona with an apparent left knee injury.—Browns receiver Rod Streater suffered a neck “stinger” while covering a punt in the first quarter and did not return to a loss to the Chargers. His injury complicated Cleveland’s issues at wide receiver as Rashard Higgins and Derrick Willies were also out with injuries. Linebackers Joe Schobert and James Burgess went out with hamstring injuries in the second half.—Jets receiver Quincy Enunwa injured an ankle on a fumble in the second quarter of a victory over Indianapolis and didn’t return. Safety Marcus Maye left with a hand injury in the third quarter. The Colts, who were already playing without several injured starters, lost receivers Robert Turbin (right shoulder), Ryan Grant (ankle) and Marcus Johnson (right ankle).—Cowboys receiver Tavon Austin was forced out in the second half of a rout of Jacksonville with a groin injury, while the Jaguars lost defensive end Calais Campbell (rib) and tight end Niles Paul (knee).