PODCAST: Complete Recap of Raiders vs. Cowboys

The Las Vegas Raiders finished the preseason with a 31-16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, but tonight was about situational football and looking at guys on the bubble for the 53-man roster.

Here is our complete recap podcast to let you know what I thought and saw and plenty of information from the game.

You can watch the entire podcast below:

Zamir White was selected in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. In my rush to get this information out, I incorrectly said he was a second round selection. I am sorry for the mistake.

After the game Josh McDaniels spoke. Here is a transcript of his comments:

On Opening Remarks… "I’ll start by saying that I appreciate the way our team competed. The effort they played with for the entire preseason, regardless of who was out there. They played the right way and I felt like they were giving us everything they could give us. I know there is a big evaluation that needs to take place and all the rest of it, but we’re really proud of the way that our team goes out there and battles. Those guys all did it, all preseason long. Thankful for that."

On Tyree Wilson getting on the field for the first time… "Just following this plan in place all along. The medical people have given us very good direction and a guideline of what to do and when to do it and we’re just trying to follow through with that. Today was another step in the right direction. Get him out there on a game field; he had padded practices this week. I thought he showed up a little bit, I’ll have to see the film just to know exactly how it went. Just another positive step in the right direction."

On Aidan O’Connell’s performance… "He learns every time out. It’s only his third opportunity in the National Football League. He’s played in six quarters or whatever it’s been, or seven quarters in a few games here. I thought he made some nice plays tonight, some nice throws. He kind of handled some things at the line of scrimmage and a handful of things we’re going to have to fix and correct too. Like I said, typical of all those young guys to get out there. They either do it right or we’re going to learn from it. In my opinion it’s all positive in that regard."

On Josh Jacobs… "I’ll say the same thing I’ve said for months. I love the player and I love the person. I’m excited that he’ll be back here soon and look forward to acclimating him into our group. There are some new faces that he hasn’t quite met yet and I know he’s eager to do that as well. Super excited. Love the kid. He’s obviously a great football player. He meant a lot to our football team last year and he’s going to mean a lot to our team this year."

On if there’s enough time to get Josh Jacobs practices before the regular season… "It’s going to be hard for me to say that until I have an opportunity to see him. Obviously, his conditioning and just the way his body feels will play a role in that, too. The goal will be to get him in and get going and we’ll do the right thing. Whatever the right thing is. If there needs to be a number of plays early in the season, then that’s it. If there’s not, then there’s not. I don’t think any of us will know the answer to that yet."

On the process of evaluating the roster… "These next few days, it’s a tough couple of days. You’ve been working with 90 guys for a long time and now the time comes when you have to make some decisions and get the roster pared down and start working on the practice squad and making some tough decisions. We’ve already done a lot of work on that. We’ve evaluated our team every step of the way. Every practice we’ve had, every joint practice we’ve had, every preseason game. So, we have a lot of information already. We’ll take stock in what happened tonight, some of the things we were interested to see based on who played and how much they played and what they did. There is no shortcut to this. We’re going to have a lot of discussion tomorrow, Monday and obviously Tuesday. We’ll try to do the right thing, whatever the best thing is for the Raiders today and going forward. That’s what we’re going to try and do. Dave and his group have done a tremendous amount of work. Our staff has evaluated every clip of film we’ve taken from OTAs on, and we’ll just try to put the best group together that we can."

On what they’re looking for on the practice squad… "The practice squad is really an extension of the roster to us because based on the rules the way they are now and the ability to elevate players at a given time based on how many times you’ve done it and so on so forth. The practice squad can absolutely be an extension of our roster, which is the way we used it last year. There were a number of guys who were on the practice squad who came up and played very meaningful snaps for us. There’s a lot that goes into that. We’d love for our practice squad to be filled with guys who we feel have the traits and the skills that we think will eventually lead them to the roster, whether that be through injury or just development. We have a lot of guys who can fit into that category, there’s no question about it. The tougher the decisions, the better your football team. I’m hoping the decisions are tougher."

On Damien Williams performance… "He ran hard. He’s a physical player. I’ve competed against him a number of times. He’s just tough to tackle. He’s a pro. Very physical. Just brings a tough mindset and attitude. He scored on the long run and then ran down with the kickoff team. He's a guy who brings some value to your football team in other ways as well. He fits in with our culture, has done everything we’ve asked him to do. He had a couple of really nice plays tonight, which was great to see. Again, we’ll see how it all sorts out. He’s definitely a guy who has made a case for himself."

On Kristian Wilkerson’s performance… "Kristian, I’ve been with Kristian since he came into the league basically, other than last year. He’s just continued to develop and grow and improve as a receiver on offense and also contributing some in the kicking game too. He's a young player who I still think his best football is in front of him. He made the most of his opportunities tonight and has tried to do that every time I’ve been with him. Kristian’s definitely put himself right there in the conversation in terms of being on the roster or something right there."

The Silver and Black open the regular season at the Denver Broncos on Sunday, September 10, at 4:25 p.m. EDT/1:25 p.m. PDT.

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