Khalil Mack and the Oakland Raiders are still in a standstill, as the pass rush beast remains committed to his holdout, which he hopes will force the team into reworking his contract.

There also seems to be no significant progress being made by the two sides, so it’s now fair to expect that Mack will not be there to bother Jared Goff when the Raiders open their season against the Los Angeles Rams at home on Sep. 10.

Mack, meanwhile, has posted an ominous sign about his future with the team, but that depends on how one interprets it.

When Ted Nguyen posted a GIF of Khalil Mack tearing down the Miami Dolphins’ offensive line, the defensive end replied to it and said: “I miss it.”

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Does this reinforce the reports that Mack and the Raiders are far from finding a middle ground to agree on? Did Mack mean to say that he’s missing it because he feels that he’s unlikely to return to Oakland?

Going deeper, maybe this is a sign that Mack is the one who's going to blink first, as the itch to play the game could now be too intense for him to ignore.

Mack stands to earn $13.8 million next season – the last of his current four-year deal with Oakland – but any self-imposed absence in the regular season will cost him to lose chunks of his salary. His pocket is already getting pinched greatly this offseason, as his continued no-show in preseason games has him getting fined over $1 million.