Getty Las Vegas Raiders TE Jacob Hollister.
It hasn’t taken long for the Las Vegas Raiders to replace tight end O.J. Howard. Tight end Jacob Hollister is re-signing with the team, according to an August 2 announcement.
We have signed free agent TE Jacob Hollister.
This will be Hollister’s third time signing with the Raiders. He was added during free agency last year before getting cut just prior to the regular season starting. He was later brought back on the practice squad before getting released again. With the Raiders having Michael Mayer, Austin Hooper and Jesper Horsted on the roster, Hollister will have a hard time making the team once again.
He does have a connection to head coach Josh McDaniels as they were both with the New England Patriots in 2017 and 2018. He should have a strong understanding of the offense. Mayer is the only tight end on the roster who definitely has a roster spot locked down so Hollister could earn a spot with a strong training camp.
Maxx Crosby Taught Michael Mayer a Lesson
Michael Mayer should be the future at tight end for the Raiders. The team is very high on him after selecting him in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame. However, the team isn’t going to hand anything to him, especially not defensive end Maxx Crosby.
During the August 1 training camp practice, Crosby took it upon himself to be tough on Mayer and pancaked him whenever he had the chance. According to Josh McDaniels, it wasn’t Crosby’s way of humiliating Mayer, it was a matter of just trying to teach him a lesson.
“Absolutely. And it wasn’t a bad lesson,” McDaniels said of Crosby and Mayer’s back and forth in practice during his August 2 media availability. “It’s his first day in pads in the National Football League. I mean, there’s a baptism sometimes that happens. It is what it is. We all learn hard lessons in this league, but the hard ones are sometimes the best ones. He had a great attitude yesterday about just seeing the things that he wasn’t doing right.
“And that’s why we were so excited about having him here and being able to draft him. He has the right mindset, tough, no back down. Learned it’s different, you know what I mean? It can be different for different people, depending on who you’re playing against. So, he’ll be better today because of what happened yesterday. And that’s what Maxx wants. Maxx wants them to be better and to compete as much as he can, as hard as he can on every play.”
Lookin’ forward to seeing a response from Michael Mayer after a “baptism” on the first day of pads as coach McDaniels called it
Michael Mayer Didn’t Back Down From Maxx Crosby
Maxx Crosby is one of the premier defensive players in the NFL so Michael Mayer won’t be facing much tougher competition this season. Despite the tall task, Mayer didn’t back down from Crosby, per Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“To Mayer’s credit, he never blinked,” Bonsignore wrote. “The promising tight end, nicknamed ‘Baby Gronk’ by Notre Dame fans, immediately bounced off the ground after every thrashing.”
Crosby is a team captain and wouldn’t bully Mayer without intent. It’s a very good learning experience for the young tight end early in training camp.