There’s a lot that goes into playing tight end in the National Football League.

Just ask Zach Miller, a second-year player for the Oakland Raiders.

“We’re really asked to do a lot of things,” Miller said Thursday. “In our system, we have to be able to run block really well, run routes and get open, and also pass block.”

Miller, the 38th overall selection in the 2007 NFL Draft, caught on very well as a rookie. There was a lot to adjust to — a new system, the speed of the game, the size and strength of pass rushers on the line of scrimmages, different coverages — but Miller stepped in, earned the starting spot for all 16 games.

He caught 44 passes for 444 yards and three touchdowns, averaged 10.1 yards per catch and posted a long reception of 28 yards.

“If we would have been a different team last year with the ability to pass-protect better, I think he would have had 60, 65 catches,” coach Lane Kiffin said after a Thursday morning practice at training camp at Redwood Middle School.

“But we kept him in so many times in pass protection to help protect with our tackles, that he wasn’t able to get out as much as we would have liked him to.

“I think Zach will continue to improve. I think he’s going to play in this league for a long, long time.”

Miller, a second-round pick out of Arizona State, doesn’t look like he has skipped a beat. A big, physical target with very good hands, he’s making catches on all types of plays and against different types of defenses that are thrown against him.

“I think the biggest thing is just being focused and making sure that you’re always looking the ball in, that you’re always going to come down with the catch, no matter if it’s in traffic or if it’s just a tough catch — you’ve just got to come down with it,” he said. “I’ve always prided myself on never letting the ball hit the ground.

“So much of it is reading the defense and understanding the whole concept of the play. I feel like I’ve come a long way in that.

“Coming from college you don’t play against that type of talent every day. Just having that whole last year, playing against all those guys in all those games, helped a ton.”

Miller (6-foot-5, 255 pounds) had several big games during the 2007 season for the Silver and Black:

• He caught three passes for 17 yards and capped off a 17-play, 60-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown reception, the first of his NFL career, at San Diego Oct. 14.

• He had three receptions for a team-high 58 yards and gave the Raiders a 14-7 lead with his 13-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter on Dec. 2 against Denver.

• In a Dec. 23 game at Jacksonville, he had three receptions for 27 yards and capped off a 12-play, 70-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown reception.

• He had a game-high eight receptions for 84 yards and caught three passes for 29 yards on a five-play, 37-yard drive to set up kicker Sebastian Janikowski’s 53-yard field goal at the end of the first half on Dec. 30 against San Diego.

• At Kansas City on Nov. 25, he had four receptions for 38 yards with a key 28-yard reception on the team’s 3-play, 77-yard touchdown drive.

• He had four catches for 48 yards on Oct. 21 against the Chiefs.

• He also had four receptions for 43 yards on Nov. 11 against Chicago.

“The thing about Zach is that we do so many things with him,” said Kiffin.

“He does so many things, that you don’t even see the blocking and the things he did last year. He took on premier pass rushers in the league. He continued to respond.”

Miller said he feels much more comfortable with a year in the league.

“Over the last year just learning the system and what the coaches want, down to the details, is what I figured out. Last year, as a rookie, I would say it was a good year overall. Obviously, I learned a lot.

“Making that transition from college to the NFL, getting used to the speed and how talented everyone is out there, was a big jump to get used to. I know all the fine details of routes, all the different looks you can get from a defense and what you’ve got to do in each situation, because a lot of it changes based on coverage or how they line up.”

Miller also has a very good connection with starting quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who is taking part in his first training camp after holding out in contract negotiations last year.

“He looks to me when he’s scrambling or when we need a big first down,” said Miller.

“Out here on the field I look to make sure that he can trust me to always either come up with the ball or make sure that if it’s in a tight spot, that it’s either me or no one.”

Raiders Notebook

• Russell returned to the practice field Thursday morning. He was held out of team drills Tuesday night and again Wednesday after his throwing elbow made contact with the helmet of Darren McFadden.

“JaMarcus was back and basically did everything today,” Kiffin said. “You can see a little bit of a velocity issue with him right now — different than normal. I think that will go away here pretty soon. There were no issues with it.”

• Partitions in the back of the Napa Valley Marriott and on the practice field — used for crowd control — sported a new look Thursday. They are each lined with a black tarp-like material and the Raiders logo. It reads: “Training Camp presented by Under Armour.”

• Again, there was no tackling to the ground, but things still heated up as you could hear the popping of helmets and shoulder pads in the offense vs. defense team session.

• The Raiders practice today and Saturday, but will take Sunday off.