Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Nakobe Dean has been missing from OTAs and minicamp...maybe.
The Las Vegas Raiders’ new coaching staff is trying to master the process of messaging with the media, and the case of Nakobe Dean indicates that they’re not quite there all the way yet.
Dean, of course, is the star linebacker from the Philadelphia Eagles that the Raiders signed in free agency. He comes with an injury history, though, which raised some flags when Dean wasn’t present when workouts started.
The Raiders have been trying to get this right since then, and coach Klint Kubiak is part of the problem. According to a piece by Sam Warren of the Athletic, Kubiak “neither confirmed or denied” that Dean’s absence has been due to injury when he was asked about that recently.
“Nakobe’s been here every day in practice,” Kubiak said. “But all injuries and things like that, I don’t want to talk about at this time of year. We just want to get all of our guys healthy to training camp. That’s really the most important thing.”
Kubiak doesn’t seem to get that this is a pretty basic fundamental that comes with the job. Every team is different, of course, with some teams saying players are hurt without providing specifics, while others do the avoidance thing. Apparently the Raiders are going to land in the latter camp under Kubiak.
Dean signed a three-year, $36 million contract in March, according to Warren, which makes it bigger news if he’s hurt given that he’s missed 21 games in the last three seasons. The writer added that Dean was a “productive player” during his first four seasons with the Eagles, compiling 226 total tackles, 7.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss.
Assistant head coach Mike McCoy was also part of the problem, as he said that there’s “no concern” with Dean’s absences. Per Warren, he added that the “No. 1 focus” at this point in the offseason is to “have everybody as fresh as possible and ready to go for the opener.”
That acknowledges Dean’s absence, either fully or at times, and it leaves players like fellow linebacker Quay Walker with the task of cleaning up the mess. Walker played with Dean at Georgia, and the two are reported to be friends, but Walker had to deliver a word salad quote that straddled the line between the “updates” provided by his two coaches.
“You never know what could have happened, or whatever the case may be,” Walker said. “But he’s still here every day. That’s all I can really say as of now.”
None of this is a big football news at the moment, given that it’s minicamp and most of what we’re seeing is basically photo ops of players doing football work. It is slightly concerning, though, given the way the Raiders have botched this sort of thing in the past, and it would be nice to see it get cleaned up a bit.
