(Opening Statement) “It’s great to see everybody, hope everyone is having a great day. Obviously, we have a tough opponent on Sunday. Having coached at the Raiders for five years, I know what the passion of that fanbase that comes with that team [in] that area of the country. Obviously, we are expecting a very hostile environment. It’s like that on a regular day, so we are going to have to be able to handle that and handle the extra added noise and everything that’s going to come with the last game in the Oakland-Alameda [County] Coliseum. It’s a special place. Like I said, I spent five years there and I enjoyed every day I was there as a Raider. It’s a really neat deal to say you’re a Raider, because when they say, ‘Once a Raider, always a Raider,’ they mean it. So, it’s a neat place and it’s going to be a great atmosphere for us to go and try to win a football game and get back on track.”
(On if there was an Oakland Raider from the past that he admired) “Well it’s not really going to have to do much with on-the-field play, but whenever I was around Coach [John] Madden I was like, ‘Man, this was the guy who had the video games growing up.’ So, when I met Coach Madden for the first time, that was a pretty surreal experience for me. Obviously, Coach [Tom] Flores still is involved in the organization a lot and is around a lot, so that was a really neat experience. And honestly probably the best of all was – I was there in ’07 and ’08 when, I call him ‘Coach Davis’, but when Al Davis [late Raiders owner] was alive. Just being around him as a 27-, 28-, 29-year-old guy that’s getting your foot in the league, and it was your first position job, it was an unbelievable experience to be around him day in and day out. The way he remembered names, and heights, and weights, and hand sizes of guys in the 80s, his mind was so sharp. The thing I learned from Coach Davis [was] he didn’t care how old you were or how young you were, he wanted you to put in an honest day’s work and speak your mind. If you felt like you needed to say something, he may disagree with you, but at the end of day he respected the heck out of you if you had watched the tape, you had researched and you spoke your mind. That’s what I’ve learned from Coach Davis and I’ve taken that with me wherever I’ve gone.”
(On what he sees the Raiders defense do well) “You see a lot of guys that run around to the football. The two young guys on the edge [Maxx Crosby and Clelin Ferrell], they show up on tape for sure. They have motors like young guys have motors on the edge. So, those are two young guys that are playing well. And obviously their two corners [Daryl Worley and Trayvon Mullen] are playing well also. And so, we respect all, fear none. We just have to go in there and take care of business and do the best we can and make plays. The biggest thing for us this week is [we are] going try to come out and stay on the field. I thought we stayed in third-and-manageable last week, but unfortunately, we just couldn’t convert. I thought we had a lot less third-and-longs last week. When you look at the sheets at the end of the game and the plays that were called, there were a lot more crossed off third and two-to-threes and four-to sixes than most weeks. We just need to a little bit better job of making those plays.”
(On what he would like to see from Gardner Minshew II in the last three weeks) “I think Gardner [Minshew II] has progressed this year very, very well. It’s tough for any rookie to come in and play, it really is, especially some of the team’s defenses that we’ve have had to play here over the course of the season. I think I just want to see his continued maturation in terms of seeing his eyes in the right spot, getting the ball out on time. And then continue to make plays with his feet. I think if we see those things over the course of the next three weeks, I think from Gardner’s standpoint, I think you’ll see his development a pretty good deal.”
(On if WR DJ Chark Jr. can’t play Sunday against Oakland) “Obviously, DJ [Chark Jr.] is a tremendous playmaker for us. We have a plan whether he plays. We have a plan if he doesn’t play. Obviously, we hope he does play, because he is a guy that can go in there and high point the football and can make a play for us. So like I said, anytime you have a player of that caliber go down it’s not ideal, but at the same time, we are expecting guys to step up and make plays at his spot.”
(On WR Kelan Cole’s progression this season) “I’m proud of Keelan. You watch him play, he plays fast. He can high point the football, too. He can extend his arms and go up and make a play. He is – I don’t want to say deceptively fast, but he covers a lot of ground where it doesn’t look like he’s running fast, but then all of a sudden, he is just rolling. He’s got that long stride and he can roll. So, we are going to use that this week if he is called on to more action. Like I said, we’re expecting all those guys to step up.”
