Raiders report: Former 1st-round pick hopes to add depth at safety

Veteran safety Terrell Edmunds has seen the NFL from all sides.

The 2018 first-round pick out of Virginia Tech entered the league with massive expectations and was a regular starter for the Steelers for five seasons.

Yet Edmunds, 28, has made just four starts the last two years while spending time with four different organizations. He was waiting for an opportunity before the Raiders reached out to sign him Sunday.

Edmunds said embracing the highs and lows that can come throughout an NFL career is important to finding success.

“The main thing I’ll say is you’ve just got to love the journey,” Edmunds said. “It’s like anything in life. You’re never going to be on your high horse forever. Eventually, you’ve got to just get it out the mud. You’ve got to be a dog in the corner and fight your way out of it. And I guess you can say that’s what I’m doing now, just by getting another opportunity to come out here (and show) why I belong. Show them why I can compete and make this team.”

That’s the kind of attitude that likely drew coach Pete Carroll to Edmunds. The Raiders were in need to safety help after Lonnie Johnson Jr. suffered a broken fibula in the team’s scrimmage Aug. 2. Second-year defensive back Thomas Harper also missed Tuesday’s practice for undisclosed reasons.

Edmunds, after getting the call from the Raiders, liked what he heard about what Carroll was trying to build.

“I got excited to come and join these guys,” Edmunds said. “I saw how much they were grinding. I watched the ( Raiders preseason opener against Seattle) before I even came out here.”

Edmunds, listed at 6-foot-1, 217 pounds, said he’s willing to play wherever the Raiders need him to. He feels his versatility will be his best asset. He’s also embracing the competitive mindset Carroll preaches. He was thrown right in the fire Tuesday with second-team reps.

“You see it every day,” said Edmunds, who has six interceptions and 7½ sacks in his career. “Today, I had a competition. We had a tip ball drill at the end. I lost, but just the competition factor is just there to make sure everybody’s ready to come compete every day.

“But (Carroll’s) just excited. He’s a high-energy guy in meeting rooms, at practice you see him running up and down.”

Attendance check

Harper and Johnson weren’t the only players that missed practice Tuesday. Defensive linemen Leki Fotu and Andre Carter II didn’t participate for undisclosed reasons. Guard Alex Cappa remained out as he deals with what Carroll called “a crack or something” in his rib.

Cappa still remains a co-starter at right guard with Jackson Powers-Johnson on the Raiders unofficial preseason depth chart.

Powers-Johnson also has a rib issue, but he still participated in one of the team’s most physical practices of training camp Tuesday. Offensive lineman Atonio Mafi took some of Powers-Johnson’s reps with the first team.

Defensive tackle Adam Butler, who was away from the Raiders for a few days for personal reasons, was back on the field Tuesday.

Key acquisition

The Raiders have a lot of new faces in training camp as they try to improve on last year’s 4-13 campaign.

But their most important addition was Carroll, according to safety Chris Smith II.

“He’s changed the entire culture that we have,” Smith said. “He’s a great encourager to everybody that we have brought in and everybody that we’ve had here, and he’s done a great job teaching us his style of defense and how he wants us to play.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.