This young Raiders defensive end is making a case to be on the 53-man roster
The Raiders’ Fadol Brown caused havoc in the preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, and the defensive end is making the case to be on Oakland’s 53-man roster.
Not bad for the former Mississippi standout who signed with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and spent time on the practice squad. He signed a reserved-future contract with Oakland in January and is happy that he did.
“I spoke to my agent and he just told me to trust the process,” Brown said Tuesday. “I decided to stay and signed the contract to come back and give the new coaching staff a chance, and it’s been one of the best things I’ve done so far.”
Brown, 25, finished with seven tackles and 1.5 sacks, one tackle for loss, three quarterback hits and one forced fumble in the Raiders’ 13-6 preseason victory over the Green Bay Packers on Aug. 24.
“He did a good job, didn’t he?” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said on Monday. “I like Fadol Brown. He practices hard. He’s come the hard way up. He’s had a lot of injuries. He was on the team last year. I don’t think many people knew who he was. He has quietly gone about his business.”
In the preseason, the 6-foot-4 and 282-pound Charlotte native has nine tackles, 1.5 sacks, four quarterback hits and a forced fumble. He’ll get another opportunity Thursday when the Raiders visit the Seattle Seahawks in the preseason finale.
The 53-man roster cut down is set for 1 p.m. PDT Saturday.
What he enjoys the most is when his teammates get in on the sack with him. He had a split sack with Mo Hurst in the second quarter and had a sack and forced fumble late in the second quarter against the Packers.
“Me, Arden (Key) and all those guys we all got on the quarterback,” he said. “That’s my favorite play of the day, not only the plays I make, but I love making plays with my teammates and just bringing that juice that I had in college. Just try to be a positive person and bring juice to the field and get that thing going, man.”
In three seasons at Mississippi, Brown finished with 109 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and four sacks.
Until star defensive end Khalil Mack returns to the Raiders (and Brown said he’s missed), the team will continue to move forward with one goal in mind:
“That’s my guy,” Brown said. “He’s a great dude on and off the field, so I hope everything work out in his favor. I’m here right now and other guys are here, so we’re just going to focus on what we can do together and get better and win games.”