The Oakland Raiders played their third preseason game Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys. Here are some takeaways from the game.

There are many arguments that the NFL preseason is too long. However, if fans want to pay attention to any week of it, Week 3 is where the focus should lie. Week 3 is when starters play the most during the preseason and therefore it the closest thing to a real game. This is also why Week 3 of the preseason brings about the most meaningful takeaways.

The Oakland Raiders are no exception to this as they took on the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday.

This might be worrisome news for Raiders fans, who watched their team lose a 24-20 game against the Cowboys on Saturday night After Saturday’s game against fellow Super Bowl contenders, here are three key takeaways from the Raiders’ game.

3. Raiders Get Closer To Full Strength

This has been a preseason of waiting for the Oakland Raiders and their fans. Most of Oakland’s stars did not take the field during the first preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. Players that missed Week 1 included franchise quarterback Derek Carr, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Khalil Mack, Marshawn Lynch, and Amari Cooper.

While these stars took the field in full force during the second preseason game last Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams, the team was still missing vital pieces. Oakland’s first two picks from the 2017 NFL Draft, Gareon Conley and Obi Melifonwu, did not play in either of the first two preseasons game. Two-time Pro Bowler tackle Donald Penn hadn’t even been at training camp this season as he was holding out for a new contract until earlier this week.

The team took a large step forward last night. Seeing Penn back in the Raiders uniform is an endearing sight for fans. Penn is one of the best left tackles in the entire league and his role has never been more important on this team. Penn can block both runs and passes at an elite level and with the Carr coming off of a broken fibula and Lynch’s age, Penn will be the cornerstone of this line. Despite not getting the start, it was encouraging to see Penn getting reps in the game.

The Raiders also got to see one of their first two draft picks on the field last night. While Conley remains out for now, despite reports that he is right on the verge of returning, Melifonwu made his return on Saturday. It has hard to measure Melifonwu’s impact based based on a few plays during a preseason game, but it is still a great sign for the Raiders.

I have already stated how important this young core is to this struggling secondary, so hopefully we see Conley next week before the start of the season. Either way, seeing these stars get healthy and ready to play before Week 1 is a good sign for the Raiders and their fans.