The Las Vegas Raiders are only six days away from their veteran players reporting for the 2025 NFL Training Camp.
Our latest Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast episode begins a ten-part series on issues facing the 2025 Silver and Black, and we start with a look at the offensive line.
The biggest mistake, and frankly, the only major mistake of the Raiders this offseason, was the loss of Robert Spillane.
The Silver lining to that mistake was that the Raider Nation was able to sign Elandon Roberts, the terrific and reliable MIKE linebacker from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He spoke recently after practice about the Raider Nation and his early thoughts on joining the storied franchise.
You can read a partial transcript of all he said below.
Middle Linebacker Elandon Roberts
Q: You talk about there being a lot of culture here. What do you believe you are trying to add to this culture? You or Devin White or any of the new guys coming in, what do you think is your job to add? Roberts: "Man, I'm just trying to do my job. When I look at myself in the mirror man, I definitely see a leader. I'm real hard on myself, and I think that adds value to the younger guys and even myself, because if I'm always thinking about being an example and not being the person that that you're looking at and using for example, I'm going to always be where I need to be and stuff like that. Man, these young ones, these young guys really push me. They really push me, especially where I'm at in my career. And I enjoy it man, and I definitely enjoy the vets. Definitely it's been a joy every day. We're competing, we're trying to get each other better. Tommy Eichenberg is doing a great job in our room, and then our coach man, JG [John Glenn], he brings the juice every day. I feel very, very excited about our room, especially the leader that's in it. Even though players win games, coaches put you in position to do what you need to do, and I feel like JG is doing a tremendous job in our room, especially with it still being a younger group."
Q: You mentioned on a Maxx Crosby's podcast that you feel like a young dude, that you've got that young energy. What is it that's giving you that young juice? Roberts: "Oh yeah, I'm still young. I tell them all the time, we get to running and doing our drills, I get out there and they be like, 'okay,' and I'm like, 'Yeah, I'm still young.' But look at this man, look at this facility, look at look at Nevada. I wake up every day, I'm looking at mountains and the sun out and just feeling good, man. I wouldn't say in my other spots, it didn't feel enjoyable to go to work, but when you actually see it, you actually feel it, you come in the building every day and Pete [Carroll], 70-something years old and he's first one in last one out and he's always pumped ready to go. Why not match that energy? Who am I to say I'm tired. Pete is 70-something, come on man. And he brings the juice every day. Are you ever over at your desk and you just feel energy and you just look back trying to figure out who that was? You can feel that shit, and it's a great feeling."
Q: You've worked in the past with Mike Tomlin and Bill Belichick. What similarities and what differences do you see with them and Coach Carroll now a couple of weeks into OTAs? Roberts: "Yeah, I think every coach has their differences, and I'm not here to compare, because they're great coaches in their own lane. Bill is great in his lane, Pete is great in his lane, and Mike T is great in his, and they've all been champions. I think the one thing that does make them all the same is they've all been there, and they all have held that Lombardi, so they know what it takes and stuff like that. But like I said man, Pete is in his own lane. Pete is leading in his own way with his energy, his desire, his standard. It's like, 'Hey, get on this train, because if you're not on this train, we're gonna find somebody else to do it,' and it just is what it is. In this league, man, this is a competitive league and stuff like that, and all 32 teams got the same goal and that's to hold that Lombardi. And if I feel like me personally, if I come in here one day feeling sorry for how hot it is outside or what we have to do today, I'm just cheating the process. Because if I'm not every day in here with the mindset of leading my room, being that leader on the defense, being the green dot, bringing the juice every day to make sure that we're at the standard that we need to be at, then I'm just cheating the process. And that's one thing that I harp myself on every day I wake up. Once I hit them doors, I'm like, 'Let's go."
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