Josh McDaniels on the Next Steps For Tyree Wilson
Las Vegas Raiders first-round pick Tyree Wilson is finally getting his first true introduction to the National Football League.
The seventh overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft has observed from the outside since joining the club in the spring.
But on Wednesday morning, the Raiders announced Wilson had been activated from the non-football injury list, clearing him for his first NFL practice.
There will, however, still be some caution required during Wilson's return process.
"He's progressing the way we thought he would," Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels said when he addressed the media ahead of his team's joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday. "And so, now it's time to kind of take the next step here and get him on the field and get him in his pads. Start working toward the ability to be in team drills and all the rest of that stuff. So, we'll try to take it at the right pace here as we go."
While careful measures need to be taken, it is crucial that Wilson, being a defensive end, gets familiar with NFL contact before the start of the season.
"[H]e hasn't had his pads on and contact and felt a 320-pound guy leaning on him and all the rest of that stuff," McDaniels said. "He's gone through all the other phases so far and now it's time to begin the contact phase and start to do the things that a defensive edge player will do. So, we're going to take the same approach we've been taking, which is make sure that we keep checking off the box and then we'll go to the next one. So, today, hopefully will be another step in the right direction."
Wilson's final season at Texas Tech ended in the Red Raiders' 10th game of 2022 when he sustained a foot injury against Kansas.
The Silver and Black return to preseason action when they play the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 19, at 9 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. PDT.
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