The Raiders’ “Monday Night Football” game against the Chargers this week kicked off in the middle of the day in Australia. That didn’t stop a transplanted Las Vegas native from tuning in—defensive tackle Jonah Laulu’s brother, Macen, wasn’t going to miss the home opener.
“I knew he was going to get a sack, so I called off work,” Laulu shared after the game.
Macen didn’t have to wait long to see his premonition prove correct. In the first quarter of the Raiders’ eventual 20-9 loss to the Chargers, Justin Herbert dropped back to pass. Laulu used a spin move to the inside to try to get to him. He disrupted running back Najee Harris’s route in the process but sliced back the other way when he couldn’t get through.
This caused Herbert to cut back towards the center, and Laulu showcased his lateral quickness by changing direction and planting the quarterback for a three-yard loss.
It was the second of a team-high three sacks this season for the second-year professional.
“I’m just going out there and trying to play free,” Laulu said. “That was the biggest thing I had problems with last year. So coming into this year, it’s just like (coach) Pete (Carroll) says all the time, ‘It’s just football. You don’t need to make it too complicated. I don’t need to do anything extra.’”
The Raiders (1-1) have plenty to repair heading into their Week 3 game against the Washington Commanders (1-1) at 10 a.m. Sunday, airing on Fox.
One position group that surprisingly doesn’t seem to be among the problem areas is the interior defensive line. The unit looked like a potential weakness after Las Vegas released Christian Wilkins during training camp, but it has turned out to be steady at a minimum, if not an outright strength.
Laulu and his pass-rushing prowess have been one of the primary reasons for this success.
“He’s just blossomed,” Carroll said. “He had enough plays on film coming off last year that caught my eye like a potential guy that might really be a factor. So, I was really excited about him in the offseason. He did everything right, and he’s played well.”
The coaching staff has raved about Laulu for months, which was far from a guarantee. New coaching groups often have no allegiance to holdover players from previous regimes, especially seventh-round picks claimed off waivers like Laulu.
Last year’s coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco were disappointed to miss out on Laulu in the NFL Draft but acted quickly when he didn’t make the Indianapolis Colts’ initial roster. They spent most of the season developing him and started to get him on the field more often in the final month and a half of the schedule.
Laulu flashed promise, registering his first career sack in a loss to the Atlanta Falcons, but Carroll and new general manager John Spytek were under no obligation to continue exploring his potential.
Laulu simply didn’t give them any other choice.
In addition to Carroll saying he stood out on film from last year, Laulu was ever-present in the Raiders facility during the offseason, getting in better shape and preparing for his second year. He even canceled a planned trip to Australia to visit his brother and other family members to maintain his training regimen.
“He’s worked his [expletive] off,” edge rusher Maxx Crosby said. “He’s getting better and better.”
Laulu emerged as Wilkins’ likeliest replacement from the outset of training camp, but plans began to shift by mid to late August. Las Vegas struck a trade for former Philadelphia depth tackle Thomas Booker and ultimately gave him the starting job next to returner Adam Butler on the inside.
Booker has played well in his own right—arguably steadier than Laulu but with fewer splash plays. The spot was already rotational and now might be trending toward a straight time share between him and Laulu.
In Week 1’s win over the Patriots, Booker out-snapped Laulu 42-29. That gap started to diminish against the Chargers, with Booker on the field for 38 plays to Laulu’s 32.
“It’s a good feeling,” Laulu said after the Chargers game. “It was crazy just coming out early, being able to make that play and celebrating. My family is here, my friends are here. I had 14 people here that I knew were coming, but I had people hitting me up all throughout the day saying they were going to be at the game supporting me.”
Laulu, whose mother is from Samoa, had several family members from Australia and New Zealand who traveled not only to watch him play but also to attend tonight’s Chris Brown concert at Allegiant.
However, his brother wasn’t among those who could make the trip.
Laulu said his brother got a trip to Australia as a graduation present a few years ago and ended up never coming back. “Now he has kids out there and they all have accents,” Laulu joked.
Laulu himself hasn’t been able to visit Oceania since he was a young child because he committed to the University of Hawaii straight out of Centennial as an edge rusher. It wasn’t until he transferred to Oklahoma for his final two years of college that he moved to defensive tackle and solidified himself as an NFL prospect.
The blend of his outside instincts with his developing inside strengths has made Laulu a unique threat.
It’s surreal for him to be making plays alongside Crosby, whom Laulu said he has studied since his sophomore year at Hawaii when he was a mostly unknown young player.
“I would watch clips of him and scrub through it, rewind it to see how he was moving his feet and everything,” Laulu said. “Like literally, I’ve been copying him.”
The chaotic set of moves Laulu used in the first-quarter sack against the Chargers seemed straight out of the Raiders defensive captain’s playbook.
Crosby said it was the ultimate gold star to see elements of his game being employed by teammates like Laulu.
He probably much preferred Laulu’s first sack to his own second sack in the game.
In the third quarter, both Laulu and Crosby were pursuing Herbert when the quarterback slid down for a loss. Laulu was in front of Herbert while Crosby chased him, so Laulu officially got credited with the sack.
Crosby might have preferred to take the statistical credit as a silver lining on an uncharacteristic off night, but the sack gave Laulu’s family in attendance just another reason to celebrate harder.
Not even his brother saw two sacks coming.
“It’s super cool to have everything come to fruition that I’ve been working for,” Laulu said.
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