NFL 2011 - Terrelle Pryor Expects to Join Raiders Soon

Terrelle Pryor Expects to Join Raiders Soon
John Nestor

Terrelle Pryor has been through a lot on his road to the NFL.

It appears that journey will end and his professional career will begin soon.

The former Ohio State standout expects to have a deal with the Oakland Raiders worked out soon as he looks to put the troubled end of his college career behind him and start fresh with the Raiders.

Oakland selected Pryor in the third round of Monday's supplemental draft. His mix of size and speed makes him an intriguing potential weapon on offense, provided he gets into camp.

Once Pryor does report he will have the rest of the preseason to take in as much as he can before having to serve a five-game suspension.

Pryor gave up his final season with the Buckeyes after an NCAA investigation into a memorabilia-for-cash scandal came to a head and ended with coach Jim Tressel losing his job.

"It shouldn't be long," Pryor told Pro Football Talk Live on Tuesday about getting a contract done. He also said the Raiders told him "they have pretty good receivers and they're looking at me as a young quarterback."

Jason Campbell is Oakland's starting quarterback and the Raiders appear to be eager to get Pryor in camp and see what he can bring to the table.

"He will be here soon, I'm sure he'll be here, hopefully towards the end of the week maybe, we will have him here and ready to go," coach Hue Jackson said. "Whatever it is that he does well, we will accentuate that. I don't want to ask a player to do something that he can't do because what good does that do as a coach? What good does that do for the player?

"I think it's truly about the player and finding out what they can do and letting them do that."

Campbell returned to practice Tuesday after leaving Saturday's preseason loss in San Francisco early when he took a knee to the head. He is ready to welcome Pryor to the team but not ready to give up his job.

"People forget, I'm still a young guy, too," said Campbell. "So I'm trying to go out and get things right for this team and be the future for this team.

"It's business at the end of the day. You don't know what we're really going to do with him yet. He's definitely a big, fast guy. There are different things you can do with him. He's a teammate now. We welcome him. We just go out here and do what we can to help the team win."

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