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After months of questions about the health of his heart sent him tumbling down the draft board until being taken by the Oakland Raiders in the fifth round Brad Nortman Jersey , Maurice Hurst was happy to get on the practice field and turn the conversation to football.
Hurst took part in his first practice as a pro Friday when the Raiders opened their rookie minicamp with three promising pass rushers they hope can bolster their defense.
âJust trying to get all of that stuff behind me, try to get people to stop talking about it,â Hurst said. âYou know, some sort of issue or all of those kinds of things â just try to move past that and focus on playing football and just having fun out there.â
Hurst was one of the most productive defensive players in the country last season at Michigan. He had 5 sacks as an interior rusher and led all nose tackles and defensive tackles with 49 total quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.
Hurst was sent home from the combine after a heart issue was detected. Hurst said it was something he has dealt with for a long time and hadnât impacted him on the field. He said he has been cleared by doctors at Harvard and Michigan but that didnât prevent every team passing on a player projected as a first-rounder until the Raiders got him at 140th overall.
âIâm not going to answer any more health questions on Hurst,â coach Jon Gruden said. âI realize there are a lot of ghost stories out there about unnamed sources that have their opinion on why we shouldnât have drafted him. This man played at Michigan. I know the head coach there. Theyâve looked after him carefully. Weâre happy to have him in any round, and Iâm excited for him and Iâm really excited for him because heâs an Oakland Raider and heâs a great kid. I hope you just judge him on the field. Heâs been cleared medically and Iâll just leave it at that.â
The additions of Hurst, second-round defensive tackle P.J. Hall and third-round defensive end Arden Key give the Raiders help on a defensive front that has ranked near the bottom of the NFL in sacks in recent years despite the presence of edge rushers Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin.
The Raiders have the second fewest sacks in the NFL the past two seasons with just 56 â one more than the last-place New York Jets. Nearly two-thirds of those sacks have come from Mack (21 1/2) and Irvin (15), as the edge players have gotten almost no help from the inside rushers.
âIt was a major priority,â Gruden said. âItâs a commodity thatâs hard to find. Iâve heard a lot of critics have talked about the risk involved. There is risk involved with every pick.â
While Hurst faced questions about his health, Hall and Key had other concerns.
Hall had 42 sacks and 86 1/2 tackles for loss in his college career, but that came at the FCS level for Sam Houston State instead of against top-flight competition.
Gruden called Hall and Hurst the top two interior rushers in the draft Bradley Roby Jersey , a position of major need after Oakland had just 1 1/2 sacks last year from players playing inside full-time.
Key proved himself at the highest level of college football for LSU in the SEC. He had 11 sacks in 2016 and 20 overall in three seasons in college, but he has had off-field problems and checked himself into rehab last spring.
If Oakland can get production out of those three players, that should go a long way in improving a defense that has been a weakness for the team in recent years.
âWe all work together,â Key said. âWe have edge rushers that can get to the quarterback and the quarterback steps up. Inside guys get the sack. We have inside guys that get to the quarterback and make the quarterback roll out, the edge rushers get the sack. So we all work together.â
NOTES: Fourth-round pick CB Nick Nelson sat out as he heals from a knee injury. ⦠The Raiders signed undrafted TE Marcus Baugh, WR Saeed Blacknall, LB Jason Cabinda, C Alex Officer, K Eddy Pineiro and FB Nick Sharga.
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The first thing Andrew Luck noticed about rookie guard Quenton Nelson was his back.
He calls it the biggest heâs ever seen. And heâs not the only guy doing double-takes of his new, massive personal protector.
Veteran guard Matt Slauson talks about Nelsonâs expansive shoulders and enormous chest. Longtime left tackle Anthony Castonzo dubbed Nelson an immovable refrigerator on reporting day.
Regardless of the description, they seem apt for the newest addition to another revamped Indianapolis Colts offensive line.
âAt guard, you want one of those people that if heâs walking down the street and someone comes and runs at him full speed Cooper Kupp Jersey , that person is going to get knocked out,â Castonzo said. âHeâs got that ability that when people run into him, they move, and he doesnât.â
The Colts have spent years searching for someone with Nelsonâs punch.
Andrew Luck took more than 400 hits from 2012-16, the highest total among quarterbacks in the league, and has been sacked an astounding 156 times in 70 career starts.
All those shots finally caught up with Luck. He missed nine games with assorted injuries in 2015, made 15 starts in 2016 despite playing through shoulder pain and missed all of last season to rehab from surgery for a partially torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.
If it wasnât obvious Indy needed to invest in protecting Luck after he signed a $140 million contract extension in 2016, three consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance made the next step clear.
So the Colts went big.
They selected the 6-foot-6, 330-pound Notre Dame linemen No. 6 overall in Aprilâs draft â the first guard selected that high in more than two decades.
He has not disappointed at training camp. Nelson has already shown c heâs capable of stoning more experienced defensive linemen, using his flexibility and balance to keep his body in front of pass rushers and flicking away opponents with a quick swipe of his strong hands.
âThereâs a reason an offensive guard was picked sixth overall,â said Jack Mewhort, the Coltsâ former starter and a second-round pick in 2014. âObviously Thomas Davis Jersey , we havenât played the game yet, but from everything Iâve seen, heâs lived up to it so far. Heâs the man.â
The first real test comes Aug. 9 at Seattle. But Colts fans got a glimpse of what to expect when the Colts put on full pads for the first time last weekend.
In Saturdayâs one-on-one drills, Nelson managed to recover from the initial punch of a 305-pound defensive tackle then stood his ground and drove the defender backward.
General manager Chris Ballard and coach Frank Reich expected nothing less after watching his college tape and hearing him explain his goal would be breaking the will of an opponent.
âHe just brings a lot of power, but then youâve also got his young, bulldog tenacity that is a lot of fun and fun to watch,â said Slauson, now in his 10th NFL season. âI donât have a lot of the athletic tools he has, but I consider myself a big-bodied guy and I like to bring kind of a nastiness myself. What I am going to try and do with him is help him grow in the game as fast as he can.â
Nelson and rookie guard Braden Smith, a second-round pick, could change the whole complexion of the franchise.
With Luck signed through 2021 and center Ryan Kelly, a first-round pick in 2016 Braxton Miller Jersey , coming back from an injury-plagued second season, Nelson and Smith could help the Colts plug what has been a leaky interior line.
âRyan has been a big help for me,â Nelson said. âHeâs the smartest guy in the room. He knows all of the assignments. Heâs been a huge help for me on and off the field.â
Instead, Nelson lets his play, intensity and size speak for themselves.
âHe did approach me in the hallway (Saturday) and I was a little shocked because it was the first day in pads,â Reich said, laughing through his answer. âI wonât get into the details of what he was saying exactly, but letâs just say he was excited to be in pads.â
Notes: Tuesdayâs practice was moved inside because of rain, but Reich said he thought the Colts reacted with energy and emotion. Longtime center Jeff Saturday attended the workout. ⦠Austin Howard, who should battle for the starting right tackle job, was activated from the nonfootball injury list Tuesday. Reich said Castonzo (hamstring) and starting safety Clayton Geathers (offseason knee surgery) were âreal closeâ to being activated from the physically unable to perform list âvery soon.â ⦠Linebacker Anthony Walker is expected to miss several weeks after injuring his groin during Sunday nightâs practice.
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