Raiders glad to see LT Miller back on field

HENDERSON, Nev. — Maxx Crosby isn’t quite ready to be a full participant in the Las Vegas Raiders’ Organized Team Activities. No. 98 is still recovering from off-season knee surgery so Crosby was limited to some light stretching prior to Day 2 at the Intermountain Health Performance Center.

But you know who was on the field practicing? Kolton Miller.

In what might be one of the earliest of positive signs for Klint Kubiak’s tenure as head coach of the Silver and Black, it was seeing No. 74 participating in the drills.

Granted, there’s still a long way to go before we see Miller at his familiar left tackle spot protecting Kirk Cousins, who figures to be the Raiders’ starting quarterback in Week 1 against Miami at Allegiant Stadium. But the fact he was even out there on the second day of OTAs has to be uplifting to the Raiders.

Miller played just four games last season after being injured against Chicago with what was diagnosed as a high ankle sprain and a hairline fracture of his right ankle. It has been a long road back for the 6-foot-8, 310-pounder who is 30 years old and entering his ninth NFL season.

But if the Raiders are going to move up in the AFC West, they’re going to need Miller to stay on the field and perform while protecting whoever is the QB — Cousins, Fernando Mendoza or Aidan O’Connell. In the NFL, left tackle is one of the most critical
positions.

“Feeling good,” Miller said. “Feels good to be about back out there with the guys. I'm really excited and enjoying the process.”

Miller is fortunate that time is on his side. He doesn’t need to rush things.

"Oh, great. Yeah, my last hiccup was my shoulder, I was ready by the season, so it's great to have all this time to get back ready,” he said.

Kubiak is getting to work with Miller for the first time. He knows what Miller is capable of doing when healthy and why his experience is vital to the Raiders as they prepare their rookie QB.

“Yeah, very important,” Kubiak said of having Miller participate in OTAs. “Our training staff has done a phenomenal job of progressing him.

“He’s running with the ones today. He’s getting quality reps and I think he’s ahead of schedule. He’s a competitive guy. Really counting on him this year.”

Running back Ashton Jeanty, who had a small sample size of four games playing with Miller backing for him, said it’s big seeing him back, even if it’s only in late May.

“Yeah, I mean he's a great leader, great player.,” Jeanty said. “He's been around here for a long time, so super excited to have him back on the field playing with us.”

Miller is also getting acclimated with new teammates. The Raiders signed free agent center Tyler Linderbaum in March and and drafted guard Trey Zuhn III in the third round last month/

"I love it,” he said. “Tyler has been great. He just gelled right in. Great guy, love working with him.

“And we have our rookies, and everyone's working really hard and getting the most out of what we can for OTAs. So, no, it's been really great."

He’s also adjusting to yet another offensive line coach, this time Rick Dennison."I mean, it’s like everyone has their techniques and things we're learning this year. So again, it's just you've got to put in the work and get everyone on the same page. But the process has been going really great so far.

"Yeah, during OTAs, right now, we have a new system, so we're just trying to learn as much as we can. And we're meeting before, meeting after, so, really optimizing your time as best you can is the best way to do it.

“Rico. Yeah, it's been great. He's been with the Kubiak family for a while. He's had a lot of success, so it's been great to work with him."