Raiders Poised to Make Bold Statement Against Bears, Regardless of Outcome

HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders (1-2) will play the Chicago Bears (1-2) this Sunday at Allegiant Stadium. Although it is only week three, a lot is at stake.

With a record of 1-2 in the 2025 NFL season, our latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast discusses how, regardless of the outcome against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, the Silver and Black will make a bold statement.

You can watch the entire podcast below:

Pete Carroll's resume tells the story that you need to read about this team.

He has seen and literally done it all in this league, and he faced all the direct questions about his team head-on while speaking with the media on Friday.

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

You can read the partial transcript below:

Head Coach Pete Carroll

Q: Obviously it's only Week 4, but historically, the percentages of a team making the playoffs at 1-3 versus 2-2, it's a significant difference there. Do you view this this early as a bit of a must win?

Head Coach Pete Carroll: "There's both sides to that statistic too. No, we got to get going. That's all there is to it. We got to get going."

Las Vegas Raiders IOL Jackson Powers-Johnson | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Q: After a week of watching your team compete, do you expect the same starting offensive line this week you had last week?

Coach Carroll: "That's a good way to ask it. You could have just asked if JPJ [Jackson Powers-Johnson] is playing. He's playing in this game, and they'll both play."

Q: What is maybe a sense of the mood of the team? Are they just fired up, ready to get back on the field after last week?

Coach Carroll: "It's so much different this week from last week because of the style of practice we had to because the late game and all that kind of stuff on Monday. And this was a regular back to format schedule this week, and it was so much better. It was so much better. I mean, we have a whole style of how we do it, and expectations and standards and all that. We got to get right back to it, and so I'm really pleased with the week."

Q: Safe to say Michael Mayer won't be playing on Sunday?

Coach Carroll: "He's got another test tomorrow too, I think, before we know."

Q: What do you embrace or what do you like about coming to a new team and instilling your culture and your philosophy?

Las Vegas Raiders Superstar DE Maxx Crosby | Darrell Craig Harris, OnSI

Coach Carroll: "Well, I mean, this is kind of what I do, so I really embrace all of it. I like every aspect of it. I like the teaching part of it. I like the challenge part of it. Of course, it's all about sharing a whole way of looking at things, about always compete, and how we do all of that, it's a central theme in the program. And so there's a whole process to it, and we went through the early aspects of it, but it doesn't mean much early on. They hear the words and they hear the thoughts, until we actually get out here and practice and work and have games to deal with and the issues that come up with games, wins and losses.”

Carroll concluded his thought adding, “So, I like every aspect of it. To me, every bit of it is a challenge to compete and figure out how you can do something a little bit better, be curious to all of the things that are doing well and that aren't doing well and to try to put that all in perspective and make really good choices and get better and move forward. Also, since we're just kind of rattling on there, I also like that through the process, you get a chance to meet these guys, see them for the first time, start the process, and then see how they respond to the way that we do things, and then see how they respond to the games as we play it, and then to see how they respond to the games that go well and don't go well. Big wins can be just as challenging as big losses in the next week. And so, we're trying to understand how to master that mentality, and this week of practice tells me that we bounced right back in action, and so every bit of it is fun to me. So, I like it all."

Las Vegas Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

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