Raiders report: Parham ready to play anywhere he’s asked
Raiders’ offensive lineman Dylan Parham couldn’t help but laugh when asked to reflect on making his NFL debut in Sunday’s road loss to the Chargers
“It was great just getting out there and the whole atmosphere,” the third-round pick out of Memphis said Wednesday after practice. “The crowd noise is a little louder than preseason and the game speed is a little faster. Everything is just turned up a little. I really enjoyed it.”
He also thrived in it.
While the Raiders’ offensive line has received its share of criticism, Parham actually received the third-highest Week 1 grade of any offensive guard in the league when Pro Football Focus released its numbers.
“I feel like I played well, but there’s definitely some things I need to improve on and some little technical details to clean up,” he said. “But it was a good starting point. I just need to learn to continue to improve.”
He also might need to show off his versatility. Parham started learning how to snap during his college career with the thought of increasing his stock as a pro prospect. He knew the more tools he possessed, the more valuable he could be on an NFL roster.
With starting center Andre James in concussion protocol and his status for Sunday’s home opener still unclear, Parham knows he may be called upon to play center. But he will also be ready to slot in at either guard position should that be what he’s asked to do.
“Thankfully, I’ve got good teammates that communicate really well with me. so even if I’m at a different position, it’s just flipping everything a little bit from right to left guard,” he said. “Then if I’m at center, you’re really just being a little more vocal. … I’ve known that whatever they’ve needed from me, I need to know how to do it at a high level.”
On Sunday, that meant taking 35 of the 58 offensive snaps at right guard while Lester Cotton, who started in that spot, played the other 23 snaps.
“I was prepared for it,” he said of his playing time. “ I knew my coaches would have me in the right positions to be successful and the older guys just told me to not let the moment get too big.”
Transactions
Wide receiver Keelan Cole was signed to the active roster from the practice squad on Wednesday.
His promotion was the result of receiver D.J. Turner being placed on injured reserve due to an ankle he injured during Sunday’s game.
Cole was with the Raiders throughout training camp and was part of the final cuts only to return to the organization as a member of the practice squad.
He has 187 catches over five seasons with the Jaguars and Jets, scoring 13 career touchdowns. Cole’s best season came with Jacksonville in 2020 when he hauled in 55 catches and scored five times.
The Raiders also made official the practice squad additions of center Billy Price and cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman.
Price is a 2018 first-round pick of the Bengals who started 15 games for the Giants last season. Robey-Coleman has six interceptions in 127 career games, though he is best known as the player who wasn’t called for pass interference on a controversial play that helped send the Rams to the Super Bowl in 2019.
Injury report
In addition to James missing practice in concussion protocol, three other starters were non-participants due to injury.
Linebacker Denzel Perryman is dealing with an ankle issue and Tre’von Moehrig left Sunday’s game with a hip injury.
Running back Brandon Bolden was out with a hamstring injury.
The Cardinals had seven players listed as non-participants on Wednesday’s injury report, including defensive lineman J.J. Watt and tight end Zach Ertz.
Going viral
The highlight of Davante Adams putting a pump fake on Asante Samuel Jr. and completely spinning the cornerback around during Sunday’s game went viral over the last few days.
For the Raiders’ wide receiver, it was really nothing new.
“I got a lot of good reactions from it,” he said. “A lot of people reached out and I saw a lot of comments on social media, but I’m thinking about the next time I’m going to do it. After you put it on tape one time, I forget about it usually and then move on to the next route. That’s the expectation I have for myself, especially when I get isolated like that. I expect to make the (defensive back) look like that. If I’m doing my thing, that’s the standard.”
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.