Raiders' Pete Carroll Gives Final Update Before Week 4 vs. Bears

LAS VEGAS, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders return to Allegiant Stadium to face the Chicago Bears, as both teams look to avoid a 1-3 start to their respective seasons. Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll knows how critical Week 4 is for his team, after what many believed was a productive offseason.

Friday after practice, Carroll sounded off on Sunday's matchup.

Q: I don't know whether it's coincidental or not, but with the new rules for the kickoff, you look at last week, there were blocked kicks on field goals, there were returns, there were just a lot of big plays made on special teams. Do you think that because of what's going on with the kickoff, maybe there's a new light being shed or new emphasis being shed just on special teams when you see that?

Coach Carroll: "I wouldn't think that. I wouldn't think that it affects everything because of the kickoff. It certainly affects the kickoff. It does affect our thinking and all that, but it doesn't affect how we punt the football and hit field goals and stuff like that, I wouldn't think. The first couple weeks, just like when you're a new team, you show what you are doing and show who you are and what you're trying to get done, and the other teams got to take advantage of that; they didn't know.

Las Vegas Raiders Pete Carroll | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

When you're a new team like us, they have to figure us out because they don't have last year. We can look at last year's film. We can look at Ben [Johnson] when he's coaching in Detroit. We have all kinds of different ways to go, and I think that you see a big transition maybe in the kicking game because it's just three weeks old and everybody got a chance to see everybody, and pretty hard to hide it after a couple of weeks."

Q: Even though you mentioned Michael Mayer, you're still waiting on that, can you just talk about Ian Thomas and what you believe he provides in the case that Michael Mayer can't play?

Coach Carroll: "Yeah, first let's just say about Mike [Michael Mayer]. Mike's had an incredibly good start with us. He's done everything we asked of him. He's been a marvelous teammate and all that. If he can't go on this weekend, he'll be back next week and ready to go. Ian [Thomas] has been right there every step of the way. Was a really fortunate get for us. He's got experience and background, versatility, all of that, and they really share those roles for us. So, Ian will jump right in if Mike can't go, and we'll do a totally good job with his opportunity, so I'm not worried about that. I just want to make sure that Mike's right, and we got to take care of him."

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