The Sports Xchange

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Oakland Raiders made it through the initial phase of the Jack Del Rio era having laid the groundwork for new systems of football and without catastrophic injury.

In the era of a restrictive collective bargaining in terms of contact and time actually spent on the practice field, that qualifies as a success.

Next stop is training camp in Napa, Calif., with Del Rio sending the players away for six weeks with a reminder to stay in shape and properly represent the Raiders’ brand.

The offseason consisted of a voluntary minicamp, a post-draft rookie minicamp, a conditioning program, three weeks of organized team activities and a just-completed three-day mandatory minicamp.

During that time, a free agency class and draft class were brought in with returning players and indoctrinated to the way the Raiders plan to play under Del Rio and new coordinators in all three phases — Bill Musgrave on offense, Ken Norton Jr. on defense and Brad Seely on special teams.

“I thought it was a real productive time for us,” Del Rio said. “The guys basically had 100 percent participation. Guys are doing what they can. I thought the team showed growth, commitment, and a lot of good work went into it.”

The mandatory camp brought with it the return of quarterback Derek Carr, who took a break of more than a month to rehab a reported injury to the ring finger on his throwing hand.

Carr shook off some rust during the three-day period, but most important, was throwing freely and apparently without pain.

As the Raiders met for the last time before heading out of the facility for six weeks, Del Rio had some final words.

“The message for these guys is to be smart, make good choices, remember how important it is, what we do,” Del Rio said. “It is a privilege to play in this league and play for the Raiders, so make sure you’re representing us right out there and do the right things, and come back ready to compete.

“Come back ready to come together as a team to prepare for the upcoming season.”

Del Rio looks at training camp as a continuation of what was put together in the offseason rather than as a start-over proposition.

“We want to pick up from where we’re leaving here, which means guys need to be diligent during this time we have away from each other, then it will be great to get into pads,” Del Rio said.

“After the first three days when you condition the guys, I think it’s important to find out what you have and to build the type of team you’re going to have in pads.”

An old-school football man at heart, Del Rio has learned to deal with the CBA restrictions because he has no other choice.

“We’ve adjusted,” Del Rio said. “Those are the rules. You may not like them, but they are the rules, so we make sure we’re maximizing the time we have, give ourselves every opportunity to develop the fullest talents of the players and make sure we can utilize those talents on game days.”

Unrestricted free-agent safety Nate Allen missed the final two days of the mandatory minicamp because of an undisclosed injury. The Raiders were mostly healthy during the offseason and are expecting something approximating full participation when training camp begins.

“I’ll tell you when we arrive at training camp,” Del Rio said. “Anybody that can go will go, and if there’s anybody that can’t go, they won’t.”