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.
Photo credit: ninersnation.com
By Jeremy Harness
The 49ers will be playing in a football game Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium.
Other than that, there isn’t a whole lot to be excited about, because after all, it will be the first preseason game. In other words, it will not count. The starters will only play a couple of series at the most.
Basically, the game, which will pit the 49ers’ rookies and others vying to be a part of the 53-man roster at the end of training camp against those of the Dallas Cowboys, will be a glorified scrimmage, and so will the three other games that the team will play in August.
Jimmy Garappolo, although given the green light this season, is not expected to play Saturday, while C.J Beathard and Nick Mullens will handle the quarterbacking duties against Dallas. Beathard is expected to get the first-half snaps while Mullens, who took over for an injured and ineffective Beathard in the middle of last season, is expected to take over in the second half.
Defensive end Nick Bosa, who the 49ers drafted with the second overall pick in this year’s draft, suffered an ankle injury in practice, and he is expected to have an MRI done later this week. What that means is that he is all but ruled out of Saturday’s game.
There will, however, be a little intrigue at the running back position, as three runners will attempt to state their case to be the feature back when the regular season begins.
Matt Breida raised some eyebrows last season but was hampered by a myriad of injuries that seemed to hang around for much of the year. The club picked up Tevin Coleman, who seems to be a magnet for the goal line, this offseason while Jerick McKinnon, who was lost for all of last season after an ACL tear, returns to the active roster after being activated from the PUP (physically unable to perform) list.
There are still question marks at the receiver position, as Dante Pettis will look to improve on a rookie season that was a bit underwhelming in comparison to the record-setting ways of his college years at the University of Washington.
Photo credit: @Complex
On Headline Sports with Barbara Mason:
#1 Former Boston Red Sox David Ortiz is back home in the Dominican Republic after suffering a near assassination attempt. He said he’s glad to see his family again and is looking forward to eating his favorite foods again.
#2 Former Oakland A’s infielder Eric Sogard was with the Toronto Blue Jays this season and now joins the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays were looking to boost their lineup. Sogard is hitting .300 this season.
#3 The Oakland A’s continue to battle in the AL Wild Card race they got a walkoff walk on Sunday when A’s hitter Khris Davis walked to force a runner in from third base with the base loaded for a 7-6 win over the visiting Texas Rangers.
#4 San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will start throwing against the scrimmage defense with pads on and head coach Kyle Shanahan will get an idea how everything should look as far as blocking is concerned.
#5 Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and wide receiver Antonio Brown are all set to throw and catch and make it happen in camp as they prepare for their first preseason game on Saturday Aug 10th at the Oakland Coliseum against the Los Angeles Rams.
Barbara does the Headline podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
USA Today file photo: Tony Perez and Andrew Dawson former Miami Marlins executives at the 2016 MLB Draft are considering sitting out the Hall of Fame induction boycotting their former boss Miami Marlins owner Derek Jeter, who is going into the Hall of Fame.
On That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast:
#1 Former Cincinnati Reds first baseman Tony Perez was a super star, a big part of Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine. Then he retired and later became the Reds manager, but was fired after about a month by the then late Reds owner Marge Schott. It was a firing that shocked not only Perez but also the team and many in the organization.
#2 After Perez’ firing at the Reds, he was later hired in Florida, joining the Miami Marlins as a front office executive. Then when Derek Jeter bought and fired former Marlin players Andre Dawson, Jeff Conine, former manager Jack McKeon and Perez. The four have said including Hall of Famers Dawson and Perez said their leaning towards boycotting Jeter’s induction at Cooperstown.
#3 With Perez considering not appearing at the Baseball Hall of Fame induction of Jeter and joined by three other big name ex-Marlins, how does this fly in the face of a Jeter induction and will this be more of a distraction at the Hall of Fame inductions as this most likely will be the topic of conversation at the Hall on the day in question?
#4 This being the Oakland Raiders’ final season in Oakland. The Raiders are in camp and play their first preseason game on August 10th against the Dallas Cowboys at the Coliseum. There will be a lot memories left as the Raiders will close out this season in Oakland.
#5 The Raiders have been the subject of the HBO special “Hard Knocks”. HBO had approached nearly all 30 teams about doing a “Hard Knocks” special, but didn’t get a yes. Fans and viewers have said the Oakland Raiders, who have bucked the NFL and the commissioner in decades past, would be the perfect team to do the special on. Raiders general manager Mike Mayock says does not approve of the special on his team, but nonetheless, the production crew is in camp and in production.
That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast is heard each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
sfexaminer.com photo: Jimmy Garoppolo (10) gets tuned up at the San Francisco 49ers camp on July 29th photo. The 49ers host the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, August 10th in the first pre season game at Levis Stadium.
On the 49ers podcast with David:
#1 If there is anyone in the 49ers camp whose glad to be back is quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, whose making his return since the season-ending injury against the Kansas City Chiefs from last season when he tore his ACL. Garoppolo says he’s made a 180 recovery.
#2 Talk about George Kittle and what a season he had at tight end last season for the 49ers and what’s expected of him this season?
David Zizmor does the 49ers podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Photo credit: @NBCSRaiders
On the Raiders podcast with Joe Hawkes Beamon:
#1 How crucial is the protection for Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and will the Raiders get him the protection he needs for the upcoming season?
#2 Carr got sacked 51 times in the 2018 season, 8.4 percent of the time when he was dropping back for a pass
#3 Carr had two rookie tackles and a walking wounded line protecting him last season.
#4 This offseason, the Raiders are making in roads to try and get Carr some protection after they signed a $66 million deal with Trent Brown for four years, $36.2 million of that contract is guaranteed.
#5 This will be the final season for the Raiders being in Oakland, how sentimental will the fans be? There certainly are a lot of memories that will be left behind once the Raiders finish up the season.
Listen to the Raiders podcasts with J Hawkes each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Photo credit: @brgridiron
On the 49ers podcast with Joe:
#1 88 receptions, 1377 yards, and five touchdowns in 2018, Joe tells us about tight end George Kittle and his fantastic season last year.
#2 Looking at Kittle and what he’s done and what he’s able to do, what will be expected of him for 2019?
#3 Joe talks about the current rift that going on between head coach Kyle Shanahan, general manager John Lynch, the coaching staff vs. the scouts. The 49ers scouts feel like they been marginalized and they have said their work has not been appreciated lending to the Shanahan-Lynch combination for the last season to compile a 10-22 record.
#4 One of the contrasts that the scouts have with the 49ers coaching staff is just using one of the draft choices when they selected Solomon Thomas a defensive lineman. The scouts felt Thomas who was a number five pick and that the scouts felt there was never any serious consideration about taking a quarterback.
#5 Preseason just is around the corner as the 49ers host the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday, August 10th. What are some of the things that Shanahan looks forward to in this preseason opener?
Catch Joe Fridays for all the 49ers podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Photo credit: @NBCSRaiders
On Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria:
#1 What are the expectations of Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden for quarterback Derek Carr and will Carr get the protection he needs?
#2 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo says that it was a tough process to rehab from the ACL injury he had last season, but says he ready and he’s agile and mobile.
#3 You can’t win them all. The SF Giants took on the NL Central first place Chicago Cubs and lost two out of three. The Cubs are one of baseball’s toughest clubs in the majors.
#4 The A’s are a wild card team, but for them to play catch up to the Houston Astros is a reach. The A’s lost two out of three to the Astros, including an 11-1 laugher to open the series on Thursday.
#5 Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said that Andre Iguodala’s move to the Memphis Grizzlies was like a punch in the gut and Iguodala’s absence will no doubt impact the Warriors as he was considered one of the best presences on the club.
Tony Renteria does the Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Photo credit: @SFGiants
On Headline Sports podcast with London:
#1 If you like extra innings, the San Francisco Giants have played four extra inning games in their last six. On Tuesday night, the Giants were down by two runs, but came back to tie the game and force extra innings against the NL Central first place Cubs. This team has a lot of fight in them.
#2 The Houston Astros, one of baseball’s toughest nemesis, a team that has given the Oakland A’s fits all season long. The A’s battled with the Astros to an 11-inning duel. The Astros opened up the game with two runs and the A’s came right back with three runs in the top of the ninth and the Astros came right back and tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. The A’s got the game-winner in extra innings in the top of the 11th to break the deadlock for the 4-3 win to even the series at Minute Maid Field on Tuesday night.
#3 Hard work pays off the Oakland Raiders. Antonio Brown is reportedly working his hardest where some coaches say his work ethic is as hard as former Raider Jerry Rice. He was seen tossing a brick from hand to hand while moving side to side during drills.
#4 San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has been rehabbing well since tearing his ACL last season in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Garoppolo said he was able to do pretty much everything and it was a rigorous process to come back.
#5 The San Jose Earthquakes continue to plow on through. They have gone undefeated in their last four games, which included a friendly, and defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 in their most recent game last Saturday. They’ll host the Colorado Rapids (5-5-11). The Rapids have struggled of late, they have not won a game in four tries, including a friendly against the Arsenal.
London Marq does Headline Sports each Wednesday and is a beat writer for the San Jose Earthquakes at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
Sports Radio Service 