The Raiders had an eventful two days in Southern California this week, practicing with the Rams before the teams play a preseason game on Saturday. Each session was marred by brawls, and practice ended early on Thursday after punches were reportedly thrown.
But coach Jon Gruden said the team had some quality reps amid all the fighting. Plus, a football team can learn a lot about itself when the hitting devolves into blows unrelated to football.
After Thursday’s practice ended, Raiders running back Josh Jacobs tweeted a simple message, obviously related to the events during practice that day and his team’s camaraderie.
Love this team
— Josh Jacobs (@iAM_JoshJacobs) August 19, 2021
During post-practice media availability, Jacobs confirmed his tweet was about the Raiders’ on-field fights with the Rams and elaborated on his point, even throwing a bit of shade the Rams’ way.
“Definitely. If you look at our guys and you see how we reacted and you see their guys and how they just let some things happen, I mean … I like that our team got a fighting spirit and not only that but they had each other’s back.”
Will the Rams take note of that comment? They’ll probably let the Raiders know about it on Saturday if they did.
It’s clearly not the Raiders’ goal to brawl with the opponent, especially not during the regular season. But with these fights happening during practice, at least they grew stronger as a group. Or rather, confirmed that they’ll always have the back of their fellow Raiders through thick and thin.