ALAMEDA – When you’ve gone through what D.J. Hayden has to make it to this point, a sore hamstring isn’t about to slow you down.
So it was that the Raiders first-round draft pick D.J. Hayden practiced through his injury Saturday and looked none the worse as evidenced by a couple of pass breakups.
“Oh, man, it felt so great just to get back out there, put the helmet back on and just actually be on the field,” said Hayden, a speedy cornerback.
Hayden had a near brush with death last November when he suffered a ruptured vein that feeds blood from his lower body to his heart in a practice at the University of Houston.
Most people die from such an injury, according to medical experts. Some place the fatality rate as high as 95 percent.
Yet, on Saturday Hayden showed no lingering effects from the scary injury.
“I don’t even think about it,” Hayden said of the injury in which a teammate’s knee drilled him in the midsection while defending a pass over the middle. “The only time I think about is when somebody asks me. But when I’m on the field, I don’t think about that. I think about the play and about the coverage that I’m in. I put it past me.”
On one play, Hayden broke on a pass by quarterback Tyler Wilson, reached back and deflected the pass a split second before it arrived at the intended target.
In keeping with his nature, Hayden downplayed the positive and dwelled on what he failed to accomplish.
“When I made the little play, I was happy,” Hayden said. “I should have caught it but there’s always room for improvement.”
The Raiders selected Hayden with the 12 pick of the 2013 NFL draft in late April. General manager Reggie McKenzie said the Raiders were so high on Hayden that they would have used the No. 3 pick on him if they hadn’t have traded down to 12.
Coach Dennis Allen said he has been impressed by Hayden’s play the first two days of the team’s three-day rookie mini camp.
“I’m pleased with where D.J.’s at,” Allen said. “Again, it’s going to be a learning process. It’s putting one foot in front of the other. When it comes time to play games this September I think he’ll be ready to roll.”

ALAMEDA – As far as rookies go, quarterback Tyler Wilson looked nothing of the sort Saturday as he displayed the poise and skills of a seasoned veteran in only his second practice as a member of the Raiders.
Wilson showed off a strong arm, placing balls right on target time and again, be it swing passes, throws over the middle or well downfield.
“Obviously, picking up a new system, there’s a little bit of rust there,” Raiders coach Dennis Allen said of Wilson. “But throwing the ball, he’s done a nice job. I don’t have any question about his arm strength and his accuracy.”
If anything, it’s the receivers that are going to have to adjust to the velocity on Wilson’s throws. Several times, laser-like throws went through or off a receiver’s hands.
Wilson arrived as a fourth-round draft pick out of Arkansas, with a reputation for being a bright guy, confident in his abilities and ready to take on any challenge.
It’s not a stretch to envision Wilson playing well enough to surge past presumptive starter Matt Flynn and third-year player Terrelle Pryor at some point, even if he downplays the situation.
“It’s an opportunity,” Wilson said after practice. “Obviously, there’s a lot I have to learn. … I’ve got a lot of work to do to get up to speed because there have been veteran guys that have been here that are way ahead of me right now. So, I’m playing catch-up from that point.”
The Raiders traded for Flynn earlier this offseason on the same day that they traded starter Carson Palmer to the Arizona Cardinals. Flynn has started only two games during his five-year NFL career. Pryor started the regular-season finale in 2012 for his only start.
Through it all, Allen and general manager Reggie McKenzie refuse to anoint Flynn the starter, going only so far as to say that Flynn will begin with the first-team offense.
Allen and McKenzie want competition at all positions. To that end, Wilson is game.
“I do think I can bring some things to the table skill-set wise,” Wilson said. “But, again, I’ve got to play catch-up at this point. I’m going to use it as an opportunity and compete like heck.”

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