Raiders Veteran Overcame Several Hurdles in Preparation for This Season

Carroll Speaks

Following training camp, Pete Carroll spoke about the importance of one Raiders veteran.

"I said something to Malcolm [Koonce] today. It's taken him a little while to feel that he's back. He came out here and was ready to go, and he missed so much in the offseason that he was disappointed in it, but when he finally got a chance to go, it hasn't been that long ago," Carroll said.

Carroll noted that Koonce suffered a serious lower leg injury, which takes time for players to return from physically and mentally. Through training camp, Koonce has shown the physical side is there. He looks relatively well early in the season. However, he may need more time for the mental side.

"I mean, it's been whatever, three, four weeks we've been out here, and I think it took him time to realize he's okay and he's in great shape. It's often with injuries, particularly lower leg injuries in knees and ankles, and all that, you got to believe that it's okay, and sometimes you have to prove it. And because after all of that time, they're thinking about it, and they're limping around, they got the boot on and all that, it just it works you," Carroll said.

"Alex [Guerrero] would be the first one to tell you, you have to develop your brain to allow yourself to get back to normal. And it's not so much the physical part of it. He's got all full strength, he's explosive, he's tough, fast, all of that. And he's shown in the last seven or eight days, in 10 days, that he really is back. So we're thrilled to see that."

Following training camp, Koonce noted a few of the ways his time away from the field helped him last season. The veteran defensive end hopes to take the next step this season.

"I would say you get to see more of the formations and kind of understanding football more when you're not playing. I feel like being a D-lineman or being like on the edge, you have such a little window that you're looking through most of the time. So seeing the bigger picture and understanding schemes and stuff like that better, so I guess that, but I would much rather be out there though. 1,000 percent," Koonce said.

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