After the Raiders had their customary music playing through warmups Thursday, the beat went on.



It continued throughout the final practice of a three-day voluntary minicamp, as it had through the workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday. A lot of new rap, some old rap, some popular tunes _ all of it loud, all of it designed to get the Raiders to communicate as well as practice with tempo.

By design, there wasn’t a slow ballad on the play list.

“I think it will be part of how we operate,” Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. “The music levels will change, based on what we think is appropriate. If it’s a teach period or whether one side of the ball is emphasizing noise, we’ll operate with that throughout the year.”

It was a first for veteran defensive end Justin Tuck.

“I honestly don’t know it while you’re playing _ it’s kind of like crowd noise,” Tuck said. “Once I put my hand in the dirt, that goes out the window anyway. You notice it when you’re standing around _ which we (almost) never do on the practice field.”

Middle linebacker Curtis Lofton said he had never practiced with music either but enjoyed the experience.

“What it does is it keeps up the tempo,” Lofton said. “You’re not thinking about being tired. A good song comes on, you start dancing to it. It keeps you grooving and keeps practice fun.”

One player familiar with the concept is safety Nate Allen, who said music throughout practice happened regularly in Philadelphia.

“It makes you communicate. I think we did a pretty good job with it this minicamp of communicating and being on the same page, because that’s how stadiums are going to be,” Allen said. “Sometimes it’s going to be loud and you can’t hear and it just puts an emphasis on us communicating and as a defense.”

— Del Rio said he saw the Raiders make incremental steps each toward progress and said the minicamp was simply the first step in establishing a culture and a way of doing things.

“For me, in everything we’re doing when we come to work every day, it’s to work with a purpose,” Del Rio said. “It’s to go after each and every day and not ever get in the position where you’re just coming in and punching the clock (but) where you come in here and you’re accomplishing something. You’re growing, you’re learning.”

— Defensive end Justin Tuck conceded the Raiders may have simply fallen into a rut during a 3-13 season and believes a new approach can only help.

“Everybody says winning is contagious, but losing is too,” Tuck said. “If you’re doing things the wrong way, it’s not hard to fall into that trap. It’s nice to have guys and coaches come in from other teams and kill that mentality and write a new one.”

— Attendance for the minicamp was 100 percent, but those who didn’t practice included defensive tackle Dan Williams, linebacker Sio Moore, wide receiver Brice Butler, cornerback Taiwan Jones and linebacker Miles Burris.

There will be no updates on injured players during the offseason, Del Rio said.

— Matt McCants, a tackle the last two seasons, as getting a look at the right guard position along with veteran Khalif Barnes. Last year’s right guard, Austin Howard, is working at right tackle, as is Menelik Watson.

— Spencer Hadley, a former practice squad fullback, was getting work at middle and outside linebacker.

— The best throw and catch of the day was a red zone touchdown dart from backup quarterback Christian Ponder to wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins.

— Defensive players were excited about the prospect of playing for Ken Norton Jr., who along with Del Rio will install a defense designed to be both fundamental and fast, more aggressive than strategic.

“There’s not much thinking and it gives you an opportunnity to play fast and react to what you see and let it go,” Allen said. “That’s the key on defense is not thinking too much and just playing and making plays.”

— Allen said nothing is carved in stone, but the system allows for himself and veteran Charles Woodson to be interchangeable at strong and free safety.

— Running back Trent Richardson, in a competitive situation along with returnee Latavius Murray and fellow unrestricted free agent signee Roy Helu Jr., said he has put the struggles of Cleveland and Indianapolis behind him.

“It’s a fresh start, just really getting back to being myself,” Richardson said. “Like coach tells me, don’t talk about what you could have done and should have done. Get back to loving the game and having fun.”

— Del Rio on the Raiders schedule, which includes back-to-back home games to start the season for the first time since 1969: “I think it’s a great schedule. I think it’s a tough schedule. We play two good divisions andwe play a lot of good football teams, and our own division is very strong. I think it’s a great schedule the way it lays out, definitely challenging,but I don’t know. If you’re a Raider fan, you’ve got to be pleased with the schedule.”