New Raider Wilson wants the defense to get physical

[HMFFL]

When Gibril Wilson was a kid, he thought the Raiders ran the meanest defense around. Now that he's all grown up, he's trying to make it so once again.

The Raiders are convinced he can help, enough so that they delivered him a six-year, $39 million free-agent deal, all so he could put the strong back into their safety position.

"Whenever I think of the Raiders, I think about a physical, physical football team," said Wilson, who grew up in San Jose and starred at Oak Grove High and City College of San Francisco.

"That's what I'm going to do my best to bring back."

Wilson sat out practice Thursday with a mild quad injury but is expected back next week. Prior to the injury, he spent the past two weeks looking every bit the tough guy on defense - and just wait until he's allowed to tackle when training camp starts around July 25.

"He's an animal out there," said Michael Huff, who is playing more free safety now that Wilson is manning the box. "We always knew he could tackle. He was big, but I didn't know he could cover as well as he can, so I think it's going to help our defense out."

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