HENDERSON (KTNV) — Did Colin Kaepernick work out for the Las Vegas Raiders?
He did, but head coach Josh McDaniels is staying pretty tight-lipped on the matter.
Just one day after ESPN, ABC and other outlets reported that Kaepernick would work out with the Las Vegas Raiders, the head coach spoke to media on Thursday.
REPORT: Colin Kaepernick to work out with Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday
Coach Josh Mcdaniels avoided answering questions about the appearance by Kaepernick saying, "They are only worried about the players on their roster."
"Just by standard procedure, we will only talk about the people that are on our team," McDaniels said, who is entering his first season with the organization."
The press conference following day three of organized team activities, started on a somber note with Head Coach Josh McDaniels and Defensive End Maxx Crosby addressing the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and 2 teachers were killed.
It's a story that hits home for Maxx Crosby, a native Texan who has a young child of his own on the way.
Maxx Crosby said, "It's a horrible tragedy, especially anything with children. It hits home for everybody. It's unbelievable, you know, just being from Texas, a bunch of families are affected. I know it affects everybody, and it won't be the same again."
The Raiders organization has been through a lot this past season, and Coach McDaniels says, this year, their focus is on finding out what works.
"The guys that we have here, and the intentions that they bring everyday, the attitude that they're preparing with, what they're trying to accomplish each day, you know, we couldn't ask for more than what we're getting right now."
He continued to say, "There's a lot of mistakes to clean up and a lot of things to get better at, but I like where we're at."
Rumors of Kaepernick's appearance at practice on Wednesday sent social media into a frenzy, as Colin Kaepernick's last time attending an NFL practice was more than six years ago.
The former QB became a free agent in 2017 after being released from the San Francisco 49ers for taking a stance against racial injustices, by kneeling during the National Anthem.
Some fans hopeful, that Wednesday's practice could be a sign of a return to the NFL for Kaepernick, and agree that Kaepernick would make a great back-up to current star QB, Derek Carr.
When addressing Kaepernick at practice, Thursday, McDaniels said, "Dave [Ziegler, Raiders General Manager] and his staff have worked out tons of guys this Spring, and we really don't make comments about the evaluations that we've made; or what they look like, what they didn't look like."
"We brought in tons of people for workouts, and if there's an opportunity to improve the team, we've said it from day one that we would look at every opportunity," McDaniels added. "He's not the first player that we've looked at, and not the last one. There's going to be a lot of people that are going to come in and out of this building and have an opportunity to make an impression. The evaluations we make are kind of private for us, and if we make a decision to add someone to the team, then we'll do it."
McDaniels stating that, "We only look at things to try and make decisions that will make the team better, and if players are added to the team, then obviously we'll talk about them at that point."
Veterans Maxx Crosby, Denzel Perryman, and Kolton Miller talked about what the dynamic is like so far with newly drafted players.
"You know these young guys, they're not young anymore, it's a different breed of generations coming up. I know when I was coming up, I needed a bunch of help with the playbook. The games are different, the speed, the knowledge, everything." Denzel Perryman said.
Kolton Miller said, "The Young guys are trying to absorb as much as they can, and our job as old guys, we're trying to show them the ropes, you know, schedule-wise everything's a lot different now, but they're getting adjusted, they're doing great."
Maxx Crosby expressed his excitement for the upcoming season.
"It's exciting, obviously have Chandler [Jones] on the other side, having Bilal [Nichols], a bunch of new faces, Andrew Billings, it goes on and on. Kyle Peko, there's a lot of new guys. But, everybody's got a great attitude towards learning. We're all here for the same reason. We're here to win football games," Crosby said.
The Raiders currently have four quarterbacks on their roster, including starter Derek Carr, Nick Mullens, Jarrett Stidham and rookie Chase Garbers, who signed as an undrafted free agent just two weeks ago.
