Only four players missed the practice: Mike Mitchell (knee), Richard Seymour (excused absence), Rolando McClain (legal issue) and Marcel Reece (hasn’t signed tender).

Players participated in both individual and team drills throughout the practice.

One player that stood out was fifth-round draft pick Juron Criner. The 6’3” wide receiver proved to be too much for the defense to handle, consistently making plays against the secondary.

Quarterback Carson Palmer talks to fifth-round draft pick Juron Criner on the way off the field

After making a tough catch on a ball thrown behind him from quarterback Terrelle Pryor, Criner beat the first-team defense down the left side and out-jumped safety Tyvon Branch and cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke to come down with the 50-yard touchdown catch that drew chatter from the rest of the team.

Later in the practice, Criner hauled in another deep pass, this time from Pryor down the right hand sideline for a long completion.

Criner seems to be building a repertoire with Palmer, as he was seen talking to him as they walked off the field following practice.

“‘That right there set the standards,’” Criner said of the advice Palmer gave him following practice. “‘you expect nothing less from yourself and if you go a practice without making a play you should be mad at yourself, because you’re expected to do that day in and day out.’”

Head coach Dennis Allen likes what he has seen out of Criner so far, but knows it is still early.

“It’s been a learning process for him,” Allen said of Criner. “I think every day he gets a little bit better and he learning more what to do, so I was pleased with the way he practiced today. It’s not a whole lot different than what he saw from him on tape in college, so it’s what we expect out of him.”

Running back Darren McFadden returned to the field for the first time since being injured midseason last year and appeared to be healthy while making quick cuts. Allen likes what he sees in his star running back’s health.

“I thought he looked pretty good. He’s out here running around and looks like he’s running full speed so I’ve been pleased with what I’ve seen so far,” Allen said.

Having had to gameplan against him before, Allen knows just how dangerous McFadden can be and how important it is to have him healthy and incorporated into the Raiders offense.

“Explosive homerun hitter on any given down and those are guys that are tough to deal with because you might bottle them up for a while but all it takes is one play and he hits a homerun and ends up beating you,” Allen said of McFadden. “He’s an exciting player and he’s working out here to get better, to learn the system, make sure he knows what to do and how to do it, and make sure he can execute it under pressure.”

Quarterback Carson Palmer looked solid, connecting on deep passes along with shorter passes to the outside. Palmer was picked off once when tight end David Ausberry

Linebacker Aaron Curry had a solid practice, including an interception off of Palmer

bobbled a pass that ricocheted off about five players before being caught by linebacker Aaron Curry, who took it back to the end zone.

The Raiders lined up Darrius Heyward-Bey and Denarius Moore as their primary receivers on offense, with Jacoby Ford as the third receiver.

All three receivers ran crisp routes and looked comfortable running the routes asked of them, with all of them hauling in nice receptions from Palmer.

“I liked our effort. I think our guys are flying around, they’re working hard,” Allen said. “They’re doing what we preach: ‘get a little better everyday,’ and that’s what they’re doing so I’ve been real pleased.”

On defense, the Raiders primarily lined up in the 4-3 as coach Allen said he can’t throw everything at the players at once.

Even while running a 4-3, the defense was able to get a solid push on the offensive line and get some simulated sacks on Palmer, while also getting to the ball carrier quickly on rushing plays.

Raiders second-year cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke appears to be playing much better than last year, looking to be much more instinctive in the secondary and turning his head to find the ball, two things he didn’t do well last season.

Veteran and likely starting cornerbacks Ron Bartell and Shawntae Spencer looked to be solid in both the pass and the rush game, quickly getting to wherever the ball was.

With Seymour absent, the starting defensive line had Tommy Kelly and Desmond Bryant in the middle with Lamarr Houston in the left defensive end position, along with Matt Shaughnessy and Dave Tollefson splitting time at the right defensive end position.

The Raiders will meet for another OTA session on May 22 in Alameda with SBReport.net in attendance to take down observations.

Palmer talked about the Raiders bringing in Matt Leinart, running back Darren McFadden’s return to the field, and Juron Criner’s impressive day on the practice field.

Darren McFadden addresses the health status of his foot injury and his recent appearance with R&B star Rihanna:

Denarius Moore’s post practice media session:

Darrius Heyward-Bey answers questions about the being the elder statesman of the receiving corps and briefly answers questions about his recent driving violation:

Jacoby Ford talks about the new offense:

Terrelle Pryor talks to the media after his OTA workout in regards to his competing for the backup role:

The always honest, straight-forward, and hilarious Tommy Kelly treats the media once again with his perspective of Raider football and also a slight dig at Los Angeles Laker Ron Artest:

Head coach Dennis Allen spoke with the media following the practice, discussing everything from injuries, his running back situation, the relationship between quarterbacks Matt Leinart and Carson Palmer, and much more.

To hear the audio, click on the video below.

Leinart discussed a variety of things including his recovery from injury, his relationship with Carson Palmer, and much more.

Leinart explained that while remaining Houston Texans remained a possibility, he chose to follow former Texans quarterback coach and now Raiders offensive coordinator to Oakland because of his familiarity with the offense. Leinart also explained that the offense that Knapp is introducing will be a “highly-efficient offense built with a lot of big-play possibilities.”

Leinart also spoke about his role with the Raiders, his history in the NFL, and his aspirations to be a starter in the NFL.

To listen to the full audio, click on the video below.

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The Raiders announced on Monday the signings of Eddy Carmona (P/K), Wayne Dorsey (DE), Kyle Efaw (TE), Kevin Haslam (OT), LeQuan Lewis (CB), TreShawn Robinson (FB), and Travionte Session (WR).

Carmona comes out of Harding University after transferring from Central Arkansas University before his senior year. During his senior season at Harding University, Carmona handled both the punting and kicking duties. Carmona hit 46-49 PATs and 10-of-13 field goals, including three out of four from 50 yards or more. He also averaged 38.3 yards when punting.

Dorsey, a 6’6” 272-pound defensive end, played his senior season at Ole Miss but only appeared in six games before breaking his arm against Alabama. Dorsey recorded a team-high three sacks despite having his season cut short due to the broken arm.

Efaw comes out of Boise State where he played all four seasons. The 6’4” 247-pound tight end appeared in 53 games and recorded 103 receptions for 1,269 yards and 13 touchdowns. As a senior, Efaw started in eight games and played in all 13 games, recording 31 catches for 264 yards and a career-high seven touchdowns.

Haslam, offensive tackle out of Rutgers University, starred as a basketball player as a 195-pound senior in high school. Since then, Haslam has grown to a 6’5” 304-pound tackle that started his final 26 games of his college career at both guard and tackle. Haslam originally signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2010 as a non-drafted free agent, but soon missed the 2011 NFL season due to a knee injury.

Lewis played two seasons for Arizona State before signing with the Tennessee Titans last season as an undrafted free agent. At Arizona State, Lewis appeared in 22 games as a cornerback and wide receiver and recorded one interception.

Robinsons played at the University of Idaho as a linebacker and started at least one game each season. In 2011, Robinson led the team with 117 tackles while starting 12 games, including a 20-tackle game against Utah State. The Raiders currently have him listed as a 5’11”, 246-pound fullback.

Session provides the Raiders with another wide receiver as a 6’2” 191-pound target out of the University of Nevada. Session played in 42 games during his four-year tenure out of Nevada, hauling in a total of 71 passes for 978 yards and six touchdowns, including 23 catches for 291 yards and one touchdown in his senior year last season.

The Raiders mini-camp hosted a total of 30 tryout players during their rookie mini-camp this past weekend. The Raiders head into their first OTA session on Tuesday, be sure to check back on SBReport.net for reports from Alameda.

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Bergstrom spoke of the honor of being the Raiders first draft pick, along with the nastiness that he hopes to bring to the Raiders offensive line.

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The athletic wide receiver talked about his experience on the practice field and what it’s like to be on the Raiders roster.

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Still curious as to if he was punting during the closed session of practice, I spoke with his special teams coach Steve Hoffman to get the rundown on King. So, I brought up King’s youtube videos of his punts in college and that ridiculous hangtime on a lot of those boomers and asked coach Hoffman what stood out about him? He then let out a boisterous, “THAT”, followed by a hysterical laugh while grinning ear to ear!

Standing at 6′-1″ and 190lbs all chiseled muscle, he doesn’t look like your typical NFL punter…or even a college punter at that. He looked more like a small linebacker or a big receiver. “He was recruited as a wide receiver at first. Then they would see that he punted and they said you’re not going to be a wide eceiver anymore. He’s an athlete though. He’s about 6′-1″ 190lbs right now. He’s athletic and really explosive. I saw the same things in the youtube videos everyone else saw…he’s an explosive guy. He’s raw and needs a lot of work. It’s not enough to just have a big leg, you got to learn to be an artist. And so, that’s what he needs to do. He’s got a lot of talent.”

What intrigued me most about King was how he drove through the ball. It almost reminded me of former NFL punter Reggie Roby, but without that upright full foot-over-head extension Roby had. “They were a lot different. Reggie was a guy that was 6-6 260 lbs and was just all leg. He didn’t come off his plant foot. He had a tremendous follow through, but he didn’t come off the plant foot. It was just, two steps and then just his leg. Marquette puts everything into it. He’s flying off the ground when he hits the ball. So, what he needs to learn, what we talked about this morning, is if he doesn’t put the ball in the right place, it doesn’t matter how explosive his is, because he’s gonna mis-hit it. So he needs to learn how to hold the ball in his hand and put it in the right spot everytime so he could be more consistent”, coach Hoffman explained. I later asked coach about that inconsistency of technique and how much of that inconsistency had anything to do with the poor punt protection and less than ideal long snapping as it related to those punting videos? “Oh yeah…he had it rough. He was getting knocked down and snaps everywhere. What I noticed in the videos was that he gets the ball off quick in the games, which is rare for a college guy, and it didn’t seem to bother him that he had people all around his feet and stuff like that. But, no…the stuff I’m talking about is more with the way he holds the ball in his hand and you got to put it out there, drop it in the right spots, and he has to learn to do it for all different kinds of kicks. You gotta kick directonally, you gotta kick it inside the 20, you gotta kick when you’re backed up kicking into the wind, and to do that, I always tell guys that you have to show you have the leg strength to begin with. But then, punting is in your hands more than it is in your leg. You need to learn how to handle the ball and put it in the right spot.”

Coach Hoffman also added that he talked to him Saturday morning and said, “You’re going to be judged by your worst punt; not by your best punt. So, you’re best punt, everybody’s gonna “ooh and ahh” and it’s gonna be fantastic like this morning, [where] he hit a couple 5.5 [seconds] hangtimes. I mean, that’s outrageous! But then he hit a couple really bad balls. So, I told him if he can get to the point where a team can live with his worst punt…if they can live his worst punt, then let the good ones just happen…then you’re okay. You’re gonna be judged by the bad ones more than the good ones. He’s got plenty of leg.”

Now after hearing coach say that, I’m wondering…what in Sam’s Hell were King’s bad punts? Some shanks? A wayward ball that hooked more than a Tiger Woods long drive on the back nine? So, I dared to ask what were King’s “bad” punts? “There were some 4.3 [second] hangtimes”, Hoffman proclaimed laughingly. “That’s not bad because I believe the league average is 4.4, but it’s bad [for King] because he’s already being hitting some 5.5′s.”

From all accounts from his coach, King has the confidence necessary to play this game, but needs to work his fundamentals. “He’s best describe as being raw. At this minicamp, we’re not doing much with his technique. I just want him to feel comfortable, feel good, I want him to hit a couple good balls so he felt good about it, but I also want him to hit some bad balls because I’ve got to convince him that he needs to change or he’s not going to be good enough. He needs to do some things with his hands to make his punts more consistent. So, I want him to show off, but I also don’t want him to do so well so I can point out and say, okay…you see this punt, this punt, this punt…that’s what gets you fired.”