NAPA — The circus came to town and the Raiders barely noticed.

When the first of three open practice sessions concluded Friday at Redwood Middle School, the approximately 1,000 fans on hand learned two things — football practice can be a slow, tedious process as a spectator sport, and the Raiders are taking it very seriously.

Coach Dennis Allen and the players appropriately thanked the fans afterward by making their way to the portable bleachers for 10-minute meet-and-greet, but it was clear making a public spectacle of themselves would be frowned upon.

“This was the same exact practice we would have had if no fans were here,” Allen said. “We’re focused on how we’re going to get better as a football team. We don’t worry about any of the outside influences. We’re just worried about us.”

The Raiders practiced for more than 2﻿1/2 hours, rarely acknowledging a crowd that was cheering them on and calling players by name.

It’s commonplace in other camps, but a first for a team that has closed up shop in Napa except for invited guests for the past 16 years.

Practice sessions will also be open Saturday and Sunday to those who have tickets.

Chances are, it will be more of the same. Part of Allen’s plan in instilling the kind of discipline lacking in past Raiders teams has to do with the way they conduct themselves in practice.

He wants them paying attention, concentrating on the task at hand, getting the most out of every snap and concentrating on details.

Darrius Heyward-Bey drew raucous cheers after catching a pass in front of the crowd during a basic drill on working on getting out of his break, but said he didn’t notice.

“I really wasn’t paying attention to them,” Heyward-Bey said. “I’ve got to do my job. I can’t be out there looking at the fans, waving and everything like that. I pretend like they’re not there. I’m glad they came out, though.”

Fullback Marcel Reece, one of the more open and gregarious Raiders, concentrated on his assignments.

“We know the fans are here. We know we have their support. But we still have to do our job,” Reece said. “We know this was for them, but for us it’s the same old practice. Getting down to it, getting more intense, trying to learn.”

Safety Michael Huff said that in his “younger days,” the Raiders might have behaved differently with a practice audience.

“We’d want to do too much, put some of our dance moves together, do all that type of stuff,” Allen said. “Now it’s kind of business as usual. Whether they’re here, not here, we’ve got to go out, work hard, get better every day.”

With Allen hoping the proper tone had been set through the offseason as well as the first four days of camp, he said there weren’t any big speeches about how to cope with a situation that could have been a distraction.

“I didn’t really make a big deal out of it,” Allen said. “My expectation for us as a team was to come out here and focus on getting better and practicing football. I think for the most part we were able to do that today.”

Quarterback Carson Palmer wasn’t overly sharp but did unleash a 60-plus-yard sideline rainbow to Jacoby Ford over Shawntae Spencer.

Wide receiver Denarius Moore returned to practice after missing a day with a hamstring strain, made a couple of catches and dropped another, falling to the ground to do pushups as self-punishment.

Another day, another play. Cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke, having an outstanding camp, picked off a Palmer pass that had sailed over Heyward-Bey’s outstretched hands.

Punter Shane Lechler (knee), tight end Richard Gordon (hip), cornerback Ron Bartell (hamstring), linebacker Aaron Curry (knee) and defensive tackle Travis Ivey (conditioning) all missed practice.