Raiders’ season opener at Carolina won’t have fans present
The Raiders’ season opener at the Carolina Panthers will be played without fans in attendance, meaning Las Vegas won’t play before a crowd until its fifth game.
The Panthers made the announcement Monday, indicating that the decision for the Sept. 13 game was made by state officials.
“We have worked tirelessly since March to develop and implement a responsible, comprehensive plan to ensure that your game-day experience is enjoyable and as safe as possible,” the statement read. “Based on the guidelines outlined in Phase Two of North Carolina’s reopening plan, and our health and safety plan, we are confident that we can safely host a limited number of fans. This is not a choice between a full stadium or an empty stadium. We have offered compromises and alternatives. We will continue reaching out to government officials regarding options for future games.”
The Raiders are scheduled to play home games Sept. 21 against the New Orleans Saints and Oct. 4 against the Buffalo Bills. Owner Mark Davis has announced that games at Allegiant Stadium will be played without fans this season.
The New England Patriots announced that their September games will be played without fans. The Raiders play at New England on Sept. 27.
An Oct. 11 game at the Kansas City Chiefs will be the first time a crowd will be present for a Raiders game.
The Chiefs announced a plan to allow 22 percent capacity at home games, equating to a crowd of about 17,000.
Carolina was hoping to follow a similar blueprint. In the statement, the Panthers indicated they were prepared to implement a plan requiring face coverings and temperature checks for all fans as well as enhanced cleaning procedures. There was also a plan for fans to enter and move safely around Bank of America Stadium.
Do it Live
Raiders special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia knew it would be a challenge to evaluate some of the younger players without the benefit of preseason games.
It’s the best way for some of the depth players to state their case to make the 53-man roster, but Bisaccia said he’s been able to get a good read on some of them during practices.
“We’ve had some basically live kickoffs and live kickoff returns to the thud, not to actually tackle to the ground,” he said. “So I feel like we’ve given them ample opportunity to show what they can do. We’ve done a lot of punt sets in pads, a lot of punt protection in pads and a lot of punt returns as well as kickoff and kickoff returns.”
Kicker Daniel Carlson also has received plenty of reps, especially since the team released rookie Dominik Eberle before the start of camp.
Participation update
Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota was not present for the third consecutive practice during the portion open to the media.
Coach Jon Gruden indicated last week that he expected Mariota to miss a few days for the undisclosed absence.
Starting right tackle Trent Brown was not present, either.
Monday’s practice was the first in which the media were only allowed to view the stretching period before the session, which is the protocol during the season.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
