Examining the Raiders' Ultimate Week 1 Goal

It is clear that Kelly is valued by the coaching staff, after rising up the ranks in training camp.

"Yeah, it was really, really unfortunate that he just has a sore hamstring, and he's got an old injury that he had surgery on years ago. And it was a little sensitive, so we just took care of him, with two weeks coming up, to get him ready for the opener, what he could contribute there. We took care of him. The thing I've been saying about him, he's really shown up to be active and aggressive and playing the style of play that we want," Carroll said.

"And he's been productive on the practice field. Again, the Niner week, he had a good week, and it's just unfortunate that -- he started last week, so we gave him a chance to show how he fits in. So he's done a lot of positive things, and we just needed to make sure that we didn't delay this return. So we held him out, but he's battling, and so he's done really well, and he's done a nice job on special teams also."

Following training camp, Kelly noted how his confidence has grown over time. The Raiders need him to play well this season in a defensive backfield with many questions surrounding it.

"I feel like definitely being able to find my own confidence without making the plays, without like doing stuff on the field. I feel like that separates a lot of guys in this league. When you go in with the confidence and not having to do anything, when you make those plays, you're like, 'I'm supposed to be here. I can do this type of thing,'" Kelly said.

"I had to find that because bouncing around a lot of teams, it's going to kill your confidence. You've got nothing to go off of but a plane ride here and a plane ride there. So, that definitely helps if that makes sense. That's definitely what I went through." 

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