like the plan for Raiders heading into regular season Two weeks ago Rashaan Melvin Jersey , Donald Penn returned to the field after missing most of camp rehabbing from a foot surgery. But when he hit the field, it wasn’t at his usual left tackle spot. He was lining up at right tackle while rookie top pick Kolton Miller stayed as the first team left tackle.At that time, Penn said he didn’t know if the move was permanent. That the team said they were just trying it out to see how it goes. At the time the move was by necessity, in part because Breno Giacomini — who had been the first team right tackle all offseason — was out with a knee injury. Monday Giacomini was released. And as scary as it might be to put a rookie at left tackle and a career left tackle at right tackle, the depth on this team is scarier.Neither Miller nor Penn dressed in the team’s second preseason game, so the first time we got to see them on the field at the bookend tackle spots was last Friday when the team faced the Packers. It didn’t go all that well.The first drive saw both Miller and Penn give up multiple pressures, ending with Penn giving up a strip sack on Derek Carr. Despite that scary drive, it sounds like Jon Gruden is determined to make this arrangement work.“He did some good things. He had the obvious fumble play. I’m sure people will point to that and say it wasn’t a good performance, but I thought for his first time back on the field in a long time, going against the first team of the Packers, I thought he did some good things.”Penn doesn’t have as much confidence in his performance as Gruden claims to have.“Very rusty. I got a lot of work ahead of myself. I knew that going into the game. I knew that going into that week, I know that going into this week. Something that I knew going into that game that was going to be tough on me. I was excited to get out there and try it live. It’s a different speed in practice than it is in the game. I wish I could’ve did some things a lot better than I did. I saw some things I need to fix and some things I need to work on. The biggest part of it was my confidence. I’m trying to get some confidence in this foot and pushing off on it and planting and sustaining against the other big guys going into me. That was the biggest part.”Penn has said that everything is backward for him on the right side and that’s tough to switch around on such short notice. He said that when he returned to camp two weeks ago. He sounds pretty similar with how he discusses it now.“Playing left tackle for so long, I don’t have to think about it sometimes. I just know. Right tackle, now I got to think about this depth, I got to flip the play in my head. There’s a lot of stuff that goes into it,” said Penn.Each day Penn has been working with offensive line coach Tom Cable after practice. He feels like “time is on my side” being that there are exactly two weeks until the team opens the season and added “I feel like I’ll definitely be ready by September 10th.”As for Kolton Miller, some point to the fact that he held up better after the first drive. True, he did, but the first drive is when the first team defense was on the field. Clay Matthews played just one series after that. How that gives Gruden the confidence to throw the rookie out there against the likes of Von Miller, Justin Houston Daryl Worley Jersey , Melvin Ingram, and Joey Bosa is beyond me, but that sounds like what he plans to do.When asked if he’s confident Miller will start at left tackle come the season, Gruden said “Yeah, I am. I think he’s improving every week. He’s going to have his hands full all year. Just like every left tackle does, especially every rookie left tackle, but we are really, really excited about the man from UCLA. He’s got a great future in this league.”Gruden said there won’t be many veterans playing in the final preseason game. We don’t yet know if that includes Penn or even Miller because he’s a starter. It was surprising when Gruden sat Miller for the Rams game, so I won’t be surprised this time if he does it again despite the kid’s need for reps.Cue, Dark Knight Joker “Here. We. Go.” GIFs. Brandon Parker was one of Oakland’s third round picks last year, a project out of North Carolina A&T and one of many small-school lottery tickets that Reggie McKenzie drafted during his tenure with..." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhiteSilver And Black Pridean Oakland Raiders communityLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpFanpostsFanshotsRaidersOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Raiders StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Raiders NewsYahoo Raiders Team PageYahoo Raiders ReportYahoo Raiders Depth ChartYahoo Raiders TransactionsYahoo Raiders PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕Gruden says Brandon Parker came to camp ‘stronger and heavier’, may change positionsNew,32commentsPDTShareTweetShareShareGruden says Brandon Parker came to camp ‘stronger and heavier’, may change positionsPhoto by John Grieshop/Getty ImagesBrandon Parker was one of Oakland’s third round picks last year, a project out of North Carolina A&T and one of many small-school lottery tickets that Reggie McKenzie drafted during his tenure with the Raiders. While Parker was a dominant force in college, he faced a steep jump in competition level in the NFL, and was pressed into duty when Donald Penn went down with injury. The results went about as expected, with Parker struggling.The Raiders went out and got mammoth 380-pound tackle Trent Brown in free agency and second-year tackle Kolton Miller looks to be healthy again and larger than he was last year. But injuries and unforeseen circumstances happen (as last year showed in spades) and Parker, too, is taking his preparation for the season seriously Martavis Bryant Jersey , according to Jon Gruden. “Well there’s another guy that came back a lot stronger. I think we commented earlier that he spent most of the offseason living with Gabe [Jackson]. I don’t think they were just lifting weights, they might have been eating pretty good down there. Parker came back married, he came back stronger, he came back heavier. We’re going to give him an opportunity to get on the field. He may end up being the left guard. Who knows. He may end up starting somewhere down the road again. He does have a tough assign. Played left tackle in college. Played all right tackle last year, so he does some experience playing on both sides,” said Gruden on Tuesday afternoon.It’s unknown how much bigger or heavier Parker actually is, as he’s still listed at 305 pounds on the team website, but considering he spent a large amount of time with the 340-pound Gabe Jackson eating whatever delicious Southern cooking Jackson is accustomed to, it’s a good bet Parker has added a good bit of heft to his 6’8” frame.Even more interesting is the comment that Parker might switch to guard. It’s no secret that the team could use more talent at the left guard spot, which is currently projected to be manned by the slightly above adequate Denzelle Good. If Parker is as big and strong as Gruden seems to believe, he could surely make an impact there. 6’8” seems pretty tall for a guard, and that’s much taller than the 6’4” Jackson, but a little over a decade ago Tom Cable took a failed tackle, the 6’7” Robert Gallery, and turned him into a very good guard. It’s not a great look to make the second overall pick in the draft switch positions, but it’s far more palatable to make a third round small school player do so. Gruden clearly values Parker’s positional versatility, and where he actually ends up playing is a story that bears watching throughout training camp and preseason.