Raiders rookies had to be around veteran Raiders and also new free agency acquisitions Shilique Calhoun Jersey , and new Raiders safety Johnathan Abram was a little..."This week’s voluntary OTAs was one of the first chances Raiders rookies had to be around veteran Raiders and also new free agency acquisitions, and new Raiders safety Johnathan Abram was a little star-struck by playing alongside one of the veteran players Oakland brought in this offseason.Lamarcus Joyner is in the #29 jersey in this picture next to Abram, and they appear deep in conversation. I had to do a little digging to find out when Jeremy Pruitt coached Abram, but it was in Abram’s freshman year at Georgia when Pruitt was the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator. Georgia coach Mark Richt was fired and new coach Kirby Smart did not retain Pruitt, who went on to become the DC at Alabama and now is the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers. Abram transferred to Mississippi State for the remainder of his college career.Abram stood out as a small but hard-hitting safety with tremendous speed and playmaking ability, which is exactly what Joyner is as well. Joyner played safety at Florida State (which is presumably what film Abram was watching) and was one of the best and most dynamic safeties in the country when he was drafted by the Rams. Jeff Fisher, in his genius, used Joyner as a nickel corner, but it was Joyner’s return to safety in 2018 under Rams DC Wade Phillips that returned him to his former glory and made him such an attractive option for the Raiders in free agency. One imagines Joyner will do all of the above for the Raiders, but it’s Abram who looks to become that game-changing safety now, and with his particular skill set there are very few players he would be better served to work with than Lamarcus Joyner. The Raiders 2019 schedule was released Wednesday night. You can see the full schedule here. Wk 1: Mon., Sept. 9DENVER BRONCOS7:20 p.m.ESPNWk 2: Sun., Sept. 15KANSAS CITY CHIEFS1:05 p.m.CBSWk..."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Raiders StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Raiders NewsYahoo Raiders Team PageYahoo Raiders ReportYahoo Raiders Depth ChartYahoo Raiders TransactionsYahoo Raiders PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕Raiders schedule 2019: Ten observations, things to knowNew,62commentsPDTShareTweetShareShareRaiders schedule 2019: Ten observations, things to knowKirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsThe Raiders 2019 schedule was released Wednesday night. You can see the full schedule here. Wk 1: Mon., Sept. 9DENVER BRONCOS7:20 p.m.ESPNWk 2: Sun., Sept. 15KANSAS CITY CHIEFS1:05 p.m.CBSWk 3: Sun., Sept. 22at Minnesota Vikings10:00 a.m.FOXWk 4: Sun., Sept. 29at Indianapolis Colts10:00 a.m.CBSWk 5: Sun., Oct. 6CHICAGO BEARS#10:00 a.m.FOXWk 6: BYE WEEKWk 7: Sun., Oct. 20at Green Bay Packers10:00 a.m.CBSWk 8: Sun., Oct. 27at Houston Texans10:00 a.m.CBSWk 9: Sun., Nov. 3DETROIT LIONS1:05 p.m.FOXWk 10: Thu., Nov. 7LOS ANGELES CHARGERS*5:20 p.m.FOXWk 11: Sun. Connor Cook Jersey , Nov. 17CINCINNATI BENGALS1:25 p.m.CBSWk 12: Sun., Nov. 24at New York Jets10:00 a.m.CBSWk 13: Sun., Dec. 1at Kansas City Chiefs10:00 a.m.CBSWk 14: Sun., Dec. 8TENNESSEE TITANS1:25 p.m.CBSWk 15: Sun., Dec. 15JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS1:05 p.m.CBSWk 16: Sat/Sun., Dec. 21/22at Los Angeles Chargers**TBDTBDWk 17: Sun., Dec. 29at Denver Broncos1:25 p.m.CBSAnd here are a few interesting things to note about the schedule:The toughest schedule in the NFL. With their 2019 opponents finishing 2018 with a .539 win percentage, no team has a tougher schedule on paper than the Raiders. They also lose a home game to London and have SEVEN GAMES that start at 10 am Pacific time (1 pm ET). Brutal.For a second straight season the Raiders will open up on Monday Night Football. They will face the Denver Broncos, who played the Raiders in their last game in Oakland last season, also on Monday night. You might recall that was an inspired victory in what many thought could be the last game ever in Oakland.In a rare instance, the Raiders open the season with back-to-back home games. Usually the league will schedule at least one road game in the first two weeks so less time will be spent playing on baseball dirt. Both games are against division foes too. After the Broncos, they face the Chiefs. Then they don’t face another division rival until mid-November when they host the Chargers on Thursday Night Football.Homesick. Following that two-game home stand to start the season, they won’t be back to Oakland for nearly two months. The Chiefs game is September 15. After that they play in Minnesota, Indianapolis, London (Bears), Green Bay, and Houston with a bye week in between before returning to Oakland on November 3 to face the Lions.No return of the Mack. The NFL is taking the Khalil Mack’s return to face his former team to London. Make no mistake, though, Mark Davis has a say in this. And it’s fairly obvious why he wouldn’t want the Raiders to face the guy they traded for two first round picks come to town and tear up the Raiders in front of the fans who used to adore watching him run out the tunnel onto the field in Silver & Black and wreck opposing QB’s.Hot(spur) take two. The game in London will be played at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Raiders scheduled a game there last year, but the stadium was delayed in construction and so the game had to be moved to Wembley. This will be the second of TWO games the Raiders will take internationally. They will also face the Packers in Canada (rumored to be Winnipeg) in week three of the preseason. If you count that preseason game in Canada, the Raiders will have sent six home games to international locations in six years (3 in London, 2 in Mexico City).Welcome home stand. Their return to Oakland will start a three-game home stand with the Lions on November 3 followed by the Chargers on Thursday Night Football and finishing up against the Bengals. Anticlimactic ending. The potential final game in Oakland will be in week 15 against.... the Jaguars?? After road games in New York (Jets) and Kansas City, the final home stand of the season, and at this moment in Oakland history will be against the Titans in week 14 and Jaguars in week 15. Ending their time in Oakland two weeks before the season is over against a non-division foe is certainly not how you would have expected or hoped their time in Oakland would end. A different Silver & Blackout farewell. The Raiders will face the Chargers in week 16 in what figures to be their final game at StubHub in Carson before they move into their new stadium with the Rams. What more fitting way to end it than with the usual blackout of Raiders fans in little StubHub. After that the two teams hope to be facing off in each other’s new digs in Inglewood and Las Vegas respectively. Though the Raiders Nation dominance will simply continue in Inglewood.Bookended by Broncos. The Broncos opened the season in prime time in Oakland and close it out in Denver. Follow @LeviDamien