Terrelle Pryor taking positive steps with Raiders

[The Shadow]

http://www.sfgate.com/




by Vittorio Tafur




It is fitting that Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor's season was wiped
out by his false start penalty. The rookie got on the field for one
snap, a running play against the Chiefs, and he was too quick.

Pryor is back on the field now, at the team's organized workouts,
desperately eager after his career's false start. He left Ohio State
early because of an NCAA violations investigation, then missed much of
training camp last year before he was taken in the third round of the
supplemental draft.

"He was in a tough spot last year," starting quarterback Carson Palmer
said. "He kind of got robbed of an offseason."

This year, Pryor comes in as the clear-cut No. 3 quarterback behind
Palmer and Matt Leinart, but the supremely confident Pryor does not see
himself as a No. 3 quarterback. No. 2 may even be pushing it.

"I don't put myself as I'm going to be backup," Pryor said. "I'm going
to work to play. ... I'm not planning to be a backup. Get that correct."

He knows extra time in the classroom and on the practice field will pay
off, and he has already convinced someone else of that.

"He's going to give himself a chance to be a good player in this league,
because of his work ethic," quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo said.
"He's a gym rat here in this building. He loves being here, loves
talking football, loves being around, playing the game.

"He's getting better every day."

Raiders fans are excited about the 2010 Rose Bowl MVP's athleticism, and
envision him making plays with his feet like Tim Tebow or even Michael
Vick, but the 6-foot-6, 233-pound Pryor takes those comparisons as badly
as someone calling him a backup.

A reporter mentioned the different skill set of the quarterbacks, with
Palmer's big arm, Leinart's grasp of the West Coast offense and Pryor's
athleticism, and Pryor cut him off.

"I got a big arm too," Pryor said. "A BIG arm. I just happen to be able
to run and that just adds on to my arsenal. If you go throughout the
reads and do the right progression and throw the ball to the right spot
where you want it to be, and if nothing's there and I take off, then
that's a plus."

Scouts have questioned his throwing mechanics, but Pryor said it's just
a matter of getting his footwork down.

"I work with the best, I work with Carson every day," Pryor said. "I
think the biggest thing is to keep working on my feet and getting my
footwork down because sometimes it's not consistent. When it's
consistent, I make perfect throws. When it's not, sometimes it's not the
best drive. So I just have to keep working on that and getting better at
it."

Palmer said Pryor welcomes criticism, even asks for it.

"He just wants to get better every day," Palmer said. "It's fun to be
around a young guy like that that's champing at the bit to get in there
and get reps and wants to steal your reps."

A year ago, there was none of that, and it killed Pryor not being able
to compete.

Pryor had to serve a five-game suspension for trying to circumvent the
supplemental draft process, and when he came back the train had left the
station. Except, of course, coach Hue Jackson did get him in for that
one play.

"I didn't know anything last year, nothing at all," Pryor said. "I came
in last year at the end of camp, and everything was already put in. I
couldn't ask the coach, the offensive coordinator."

The Raiders didn't even have a quarterbacks coach last season, so there
was no direct supervising and counseling like there is now with DeFilippo.

"Big, big, huge improvement," Pryor said. "I spent a lot of time with
DeFilippo and I cleaned up the footwork."

Pryor told Sports Illustrated that at one point last year he was so
depressed that he questioned if he still loved the game and if he wanted
to keep playing.

But he won't talk about that anymore. There are new coaches and new life
and the false start flag has been picked up.

"He has all kinds of talent," Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. "He's not
there from a mental standpoint, from a fundamental standpoint, which is
true of 99 percent of the young quarterbacks that come into this league.
...

"But he's hungry for it and he is working very hard."

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