Raiders hit the ground for up-downs under Jack Del Rio
NAPA, Calif. — The punishment is not cruel. But it is a tad unusual.
Early into Sunday’s practice, the Raiders defense jumped offsides and gave the offense a free play. The offense promptly botched the opportunity, failing to protect the football with a fumble. Such miscues in a game can mean the difference between a win and a loss.
In practice, they can mean up-downs.
Up-downs commonly are seen in youth, prep and maybe even college football. They are far less prevalent at the NFL level. Call coach Jack Del Rio old-fashioned, but the form of punishment makes an annual appearance at his training camps. That included Sunday with the offense and defense simultaneously doing up-downs after the aforementioned play.
Raiders offensive tackle Marshall Newhouse, 28, is entering his eighth NFL season.
After four seasons with the Green Bay Packers, he spent one year with the Cincinnati Bengals and the past two with the New York Giants.
“I haven’t done up-downs since high school, and I’m trying to keep it that way,” said Newhouse, who attended Texas Christian for college. “I don’t love up-downs.”
That’s the idea.
Del Rio usually orders five up-downs per transgression. Once announced, players will chop their feet, fall chest-first into the ground and hop back to their feet, thus completing a rep. Penalties. Turnovers. Something else Del Rio doesn’t like. It’s his call for what warrants the quick discipline.
He has a general system in place.
“Well, if we’re in a move-the-ball period, I typically don’t do them because they’re going to feel the effect by us moving the ball up and it being second-and-2 instead of second-and-7, or second-and-15 instead of second-and-10 — whatever it might be,” Del Rio said. “When we have scripted plays, (it’s) just a reminder that when you’re making that kind of mistake and it’s a focus mistake that we’re making it a lot harder on ourselves.
“Whether it’s offensively, whether it’s defensively, the chances of that being a successful drive just went up or down based on that penalty. So where we can condition the mind, condition how we react and how we respond to the adversity and a little bit of conditioning, that’s what we do.”
To end Sunday’s practice, the team ran sprints across the width of a football field. Many of the players and coaches had loved ones in attendance, as the Raiders held their “Family Day.” The annual camp event features a post-practice picnic.
“A little extra conditioning before they hit the barbecue,” Del Rio said of the sprints. “Nothing punitive.”
Notable
— Three of the Raiders’ drafted rookies did not practice Sunday. A fourth exited midway into the session. Offensive tackle Jylan Ware, a seventh-round pick, absorbed a big hit during an 11-on-11 session. He fell to the ground and remained there for a few moments. “No worries. I’m good,” Ware wrote on Twitter. Rookie cornerback Gareon Conley, safety Obi Melifonwu and tackle David Sharpe remain sidelined.
— The Raiders hosted a military ceremony before practice. In it, Chief Petty Officer Matt Martinez re-enlisted in the U.S. Navy to continue his 18 years of service.
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Contact reporter Michael Gehlken at mgehlken@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Raiders offensive tackle Marshall Newhouse spent three seasons with the Green Bay Packers. Newhouse spent four seasons with the Packers.
