NAPA, Calif. -- The first thing you see when you walk onto the field here at Raiders camp is an open-air weight room for the players. An open-air weight room that players actually used after practice. In full view of fans and the media.

Yeah, we're not in Kansas anymore.

The Detroit Lions do their best to control everything about their training camp, especially when it comes to reporters. We're penned into a bleacher in one of the end zones, and that's it. They want the public to see as little as possible, and hear as little as possible.

But the Raiders ain't scared. Here at the Napa Valley Marriott, we're able to walk around the two fields at our leisure. We were able to see and hear so much more, like Darius Slay jawing with the fans behind him.

Oh, the fans. Yeah, they were really into this practice. Today's workout was louder than any I've heard in my six camps covering the Lions. They got into it, especially during one-on-ones between receivers and defensive backs. And as the volume cranked up, the practice grew more intense. There were several big cracks during special teams work, including Nevin Lawson taking out the kick returner as he tried to make his way out of bounds. Tempers briefly flared, but order was restored before any serious extracurriculars occurred.

All told, this workout must have been exactly what Matt Patricia wanted. Itcranked up the intensity of practice. Guys got after it, often flirting with the edge of what's acceptable -- there were multiple warnings for players to stop at the whistle -- without anything turning dirty.

It was a good day of work, and we got a better feel for where a lot of guys are at. Here are some of my observations.

-- Miles Killebrew wasn't saying much, and Matt Patricia, even less so. But reading the tea leaves here, it sure looks like he's going to try to make the team as a linebacker. As a bigger-bodied safety, he's lined up there before. But this is different. For the second straight day, he repped with the linebackers rather than the defensive backs during individual drills. He also spent all of his time at that position during team stuff. It makes some sense, too. He struggled to see the field at safety down the stretch last season, even when Tavon Wilson was lost to injury. And he's fared no better in this camp. When Wilson missed a day of practice last week, it was Rolan Milligan who repped with the ones, not Killebrew. With everyone back at that position, plus third-round pick Tracy Walker, he looks like he could be the odd man out there. But there are more opportunities at linebacker, where Detroit needs all hands on deck for its new 3-4 sets. And Killebrew has the size to play the position. How well he can play it is another matter, though, and you have to figure he has work to do to make the team at this point.

-- The Raiders have two practice fields set up here, and with so much going on simultaneously, it was impossible to see everything. I chose to spend my time focusing on Detroit's first-team offense working against Oakland's first-team defense, mostly because I was curious to see how the offensive line would hold up. Those guys have been really good back in Allen Park. But Detroit's defensive line isn't exactly a strength either, especially without Ziggy Ansah. And facing a far more talented Raiders front, they struggled. There were a lot of losses across the line, including two from Frank Ragnow. This is a big reason why these joint practices are so beneficial -- you put guys in different situations against different players, and you learn something about them that you didn't before. A guy like Ragnow was able to take a couple Ls now, when nothing really matters, rather than learning those lessons when the snaps really do count. This wasn't a great performance for the O-line, but it was a day where they did get better.

-- While the one-on-ones were rough, the offensive line held up much better as a unit during team drills. Matthew Stafford had all kinds of time to sit back and find his targets, a real testament to how well those guys are working together up front. Stafford wasn't exactly sharp, though. He completed 7 of 11 attempts during team work, but was a little erratic downfield throughout the day. He missed a wide-open Marvin Jones a couple times. He was also picked off by linebacker Emmanuel Lamur, his first interception of training camp. (Not counting the one DeShawn Shead picked off Monday when they were running plays at half-speed.)

-- One player who practiced well -- yep, you guessed it -- was Marvin Jones. The receiver has been fabulous in Allen Park, and he didn't miss a beat working against Oakland. He beat Rashaan Melvin twice during one-on-ones, the second of which came on a beautiful pass to the back shoulder, then got a step on Antonio Hamilton for a downfield touchdown. On the first series of team drills, Jones was double-covered -- and then got a step behind both of his men. Stafford overthrew him, though, and then underthrew him on the next play. But Jones sprawled out for the ball anyway, and nearly made a circus one-handed catch. Again: Jones was consistently open, and the only reason he didn't do more damage was some overthrown balls from Stafford.

-- Sticking with the receivers for a moment, undrafted rookie Teo Redding continues to tantalize at the back end of that rotation. He's used good speed and great hops to win a lot of deep balls in Allen Park, and consistently beat Oakland's defensive backs on similar plays today. He put a nifty move on Antonio Hamilton -- drawing some oohs and ahhs from the Lions sideline -- during one-on-ones. Then he did it again, and then he did it once more. He's become something of a camp darling, and will be one of the most closely watched players Friday night in Oakland.

-- I'm starting to think Ameer Abdullah's chances of making the team are better than originally thought. He was listed as the starting kick returner on the club's first depth chart of the season, and sure enough, took the first reps there against Oakland. Plus, he was the featured back during 2-minute drills, and even caught a nice pass out of the backfield to move the chains. The Lions could go several directions in the back end of the running back rotation, but Abdullah makes sense. He's really athletic, for one, and can replicate many of the things Theo Riddick does if Riddick gets hurt. He also has a ton of experience running the ball, which could be useful in a rotation that features a 31-year-old and a rookie at the top. At this point, I'd have him in on my roster projection.

-- During hurry-up drills, Matthew Stafford leaned heavily on new tight end Luke Willson. The free-agent pickup caught a pass in the flat to start the drive, then hauled in a bomb to move the offense into field-goal position as time was winding down. But Stafford also missed Marvin Jones twice and Kenny Golladay once on the series.

-- Like I said, I spent most of my time focusing on the offense. But you couldn't miss all the balls that were being picked on the far field, either. Derek Carr hadn't thrown an interception in all of Raiders camp, but Darius Slay got him once. Then Teez Tabor and DeShawn Shead added one apeice against backups. And Quandre Diggs was a name I kept hearing when Oakland players were asked about the defense. While the front seven continues to try to sort itself out, there's a lot to like about the secondary. It's deep, experienced -- and, today, a big play waiting to happen.

-- Linebacker Chad Meredith, defensive end Cam Johnson and defensive back Stefan McClure did not participate in the practice. Running back Theo Riddick returned after taking Monday off. And Ezekiel Ansah practiced for a second straight day after coming off the physically unable to perform list, although was held out of some drills as the club eases him back.

-- The practice concluded with a goal-line drill that featured live tackling. And it's sure to bring back bad memories for Lions fans. LeGarrette Blount got both carries with the first-team offense, but was stuffed both times. Then Kerryon Johnson got a rep as the twos came in, and was smoked in the backfield. Oakland just blew up the play. Then, finally, on the fourth try, Johnson was able to plunge into the end zone for a touchdown. But even then, the play was so close that the Raiders believed he was stopped short. After spending the offseason trying to soup up the power run game, it was disheartening to see Detroit -- which was the worst power-rushing team in the league last year -- struggle once again.