Photo credit: @Raiders

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

Welcome back football!

The Oakland Raiders open up the 2019 preseason schedule this coming Saturday, when they host the visiting Los Angeles Rams at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Kickoff is at 5:00 p.m.

Raiders head coach Jon Gruden told available media on Thursday in Napa that the starters won’t see the field Saturday night against the reigning NFC Champions.

“You’re not going to see some of the starters,” Gruden said. “You’re just not going to see them. You saw them today. You saw them yesterday. They took about 120 reps so we’re going to take a look at some of the young players, some guys need that opportunity, and I don’t have that for you right now but I’ll have that for you tomorrow.”

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the starters, most notably quarterback Derek Carr, won’t suit up in the first preseason. Typically, starters don’t see any real action until the second and third preseason games.

Teams usually treat the preseason as a proven ground for players on the roster bubble looking to burst on to the scene. The four games are essentially job interviews to see if a player does fit a team’s system for the upcoming season.

With Carr most likely not playing on Saturday, expect plenty of action for quarterbacks Mike Glennon and Nathan Peterman as the two battle for the backup job.

Glennon, signed with the Raiders as an unrestricted free agent in the offseason after spending 2018 with the Arizona Cardinals. In two games played last year, Glennon completed 15-of-21 passes for 174 yards and one touchdown.

For his career, Glennon has been a serviceable starter with Tampa Bay and Chicago as well, has thrown for 5,107 yards with 35 touchdowns to just 20 interceptions as he enters his seventh year in the NFL.

Peterman, who spent his first two years of his career in Buffalo, is trying to win a roster spot with Oakland. For his career, Peterman has thrown just three touchdowns, but a ghastly 12 interceptions in four career starts.

Defensively, the Raiders have a few young players that I’m intrigued to see get in the game such as rookies defensive end Clelin Ferrell and safety Johnathan Abram.

The Raiders spent two first-round picks on both Ferrell and Abram in the 2019 NFL Draft, and both are expected to compete for starting positions.

The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Ferrell was drafted fourth overall from Clemson after winning a national championship, while the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Abram was selected 27th overall out of Mississippi State.

After Saturday’s game, which will be the only one in Oakland during the preseason, the Raiders will travel to Arizona and take on the Cardinals on Thursday night on ESPN. Oakland’s second home game, which will be on Aug. 22 in Winnipeg against the Green Bay Packers.

The Raiders won’t play at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum again until Sept. 9, as the nightcap to ESPN’s Monday Night Football double-header.