Raiders wish Golden Knights good luck ahead of Stanley Cup Final

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Stanley Cup Final is Saturday and the Vegas Golden Knights are receiving support across the valley including the Las Vegas Raiders.

"It’s an exciting time in Las Vegas. From our organization to the Golden Knights, we want to congratulate them on making the Stanley Cup Final. We wish Coach Cassidy and the entire organization, the entire team, well and luck, obviously, as they head into this championship round," head coach Josh McDaniels said on Thursday. "There’s going to be a number of our players that will be there supporting them and we’re all excited to continue to pull for them. Obviously, they’ve had a great year and we’re looking forward to continuing to support that."

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham was even rocking a Vegas hat during the Thursday press conference. He said seeing other teams are succeeding in the valley gives the Raiders motivation.

"Two of my favorite things outside of football and my family are playoff basketball and playoff hockey. Luckily, since I've been here, I've been able to go to some of the playoff games for the Aces. I've been able to go to some of the playoff games for the Knights and the fact that it's the hometown, I mean it's been great. It's inspirational," Graham said. "When coach was talking about [it] today, I'm sitting here thinking like, man, because you want to get going because that's the ultimate goal but [we're] really proud of what they've done."

With Raiders coaches looking to the future, that includes evaluating players during organized team activities. However, one person you won't see take the field just yet is quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. He's still recovering from a foot injury. However, McDaniels said OTAs are voluntary and it's not unusual for some players to sit out.

"This is football and there's definitely going to be players that miss time. Josh Jacobs wasn't able to do a whole lot last year either and he had a decent year," McDaniels said. "The relationships, the trust, the communication, the rapport, all that stuff is being built. He's here every day, obviously, and the guys are getting to know each other, which is a great thing. I have no anxiety about it. I'm excited that he's here and looking forward to it when he's out there."

The Raiders also have veteran leadership in the form of quarterback Brian Hoyer who also previously played under McDaniels with the New England Patriots.

"[Hoyer] really does a great job of understanding his assignment and understanding how he may help others," McDaniels said. "He's been in a role of backup quarterback for a number of years so he understands what the responsibility is in that position and takes full advantage of every opportunity that he has when he has repetitions and he's getting a lot of them now and able to function in our system."

Since the announcement that Tom Brady could become part-owner of the Raiders, there has been some speculation that he might suit up for the Silver and Black. However, the Super Bowl winner shut down those rumors during an interview with Sports Illustrated.

The Raiders have a mandatory mini-camp scheduled for June 6 through June 8 with the last OTAs off-season workouts scheduled for June 12 through June 15.