Raiders OC Mick Lombardi Talks Broncos

Las Vegas Raiders Offensive Coordingtor Mick Lombardi spoke before today's game against the Denver Broncos, and we have all that he said.

DENVER, Col.--After over seven months, the long wandering in the desert of no National Football League for the Las Vegas Raiders is finally over.

The Silver and Black have invaded Empower Field at Mile High to kick off the 2023 National Football League regular season against their AFC West rival, the Denver Broncos.

Offensive Coordinator Mick Lombardi spoke before the team flew to Denver about the state of the Silver, Black, and, of course, the Broncos.

You can watch it all below and read the transcript:

Offensive Coordinator Mick Lombardi

Q: You're going against a pretty tough defense this week with the Broncos. What's some of the challenges they present? 

Coach Lombardi: "I think they're very talented at all three levels. They have a new coordinator, Vance Joseph, who we played against last year when he was in Arizona. They're well coached, so he plays an aggressive mindset, both from a coverage standpoint, pressure standpoint and front standpoint. He gets the players to play hard. But they have impact players in all three levels, whether it's [Randy] Gregory in the front, Josey Jewell at linebacker and then you have [Justin] Simmons and [Patrick] Surtain at the corner position and safety position. So, they have really skilled players at all three levels. It's a challenge for us, both from a personnel standpoint and scheme standpoint, but we're looking forward to it." 

Q: What's the balance when you prepare, looking at Vance Joseph stuff at Arizona or the personnel stuff for the Broncos? 

Coach Lombardi: "I think you have to look at both, because when you look at them last year, they were very good on defense, and they kept a lot of things schematically that they were doing. And then you look at Vance [Joseph]'s past and obviously he has a belief in what he was doing. So, you try and mesh it together -- it's opening day, so you never know what you're going to get. So, you try to prepare for the most you could prepare for and make adjustments on the fly. And that's what opening day is about, making adjustments as you go because you really never know what you're going to get, what you're going to see, because they're practicing just like we are. So, looking forward to it, that's the beauty of coaching and beauty playing. You've got to kind of make adjustments on the fly and go." 

Q: Are there more adjustments in Week 1? 

Coach Lombardi: "Yeah, Week 1 is different. It's a whole new ballgame. You just have three preseason games to go off and you hope for the best. And you go out there and try to execute your stuff that you feel good about, versus what they present to you. It's a follow your rules game. We tell players follow your rules all the time and good things will come, so that's what we try and do." 

Q: I've heard from a few people that offensive coaches, assistant coaches have gotten more ownership issues in terms of taking control, whether it's team meetings or having more influence. How do you feel like that's helped you guys grow on your side of the ball?  

Coach Lombardi: "Year two, we definitely have a lot more comfortability with the players and the staff, and we know how to work together, and we feel comfortable with one another. Coach Josh [McDaniels] does a great job of letting us coach and execute our plan together as a unit. He has hands in everything, offense, defense, and special teams, and he has a great impact on the whole team as the head coach. Obviously, he's the offensive play caller and he has a great impact on the offense, but he touches everything here. From the personnel standpoint to the offense, defense, special teams. He has a lot of things to do, and he puts faith in his staff to get things executed that he wants done. And I'm just grateful and the staff is grateful for the opportunity to do that." 

Q: With Josh Jacobs, Coach McDaniels talked about you guys have a plan going in, and you will adjust on the fly based on what you see. Does that change anything in terms of having extra stuff if in this scenario and in this scenario in terms of that snaps that he can play? 

Coach Lombardi: "47 players will be ready to go, we'll have four backs at the game and they'll all be ready to go. So, we'll obviously play Josh [Jacobs], he's been here practicing and feeling good, and everybody will have an opportunity. It's funny, you play a preseason game, you have everybody there and you feel like you have an army of guys to play. You get to the regular season there's 47 on game day and you're like: 'OK.' Everybody's one play away from being in the game, that's happened numerous times last year, whether it was Kansas City at the tight end position with Jesper Horsted, he stepped in there and played the whole game and that happens numerous times at various positions, whether it’s at receiver and it's Keelan Cole playing for Hunter Renfrow last year. Everybody's ready to rock and roll and Josh is looking forward to playing and he's anxious to be back here, and we're excited to have him." 

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

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