Bilal Nichols on Year 2 in Patrick Graham's System

Las Vegas Raiders defensive lineman Bilal Nichols had a solid first season in the Silver and Black.

Nichols posted 44 total tackles, four tackles for losses, one and a half sacks and 11 quarterback hits. He also played the second-most snaps on defense with 805, so he returns to the Raiders as one of the most experienced interior defensive linemen.

Plus, Nichols is going into another season in the system of Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham, who is in his second season calling the Raiders’ defense.

Nichols addressed the media at training camp and spoke about the comfort level he and his teammates have going into their second season in Graham’s system.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Nichols said. “Definitely have more comfort with the more experience that you have with something. That’s definitely something that helps a lot, so it definitely feels good to come into year two and kind of know what to expect a little bit more. And just knowing Pat [Patrick Graham] better, knowing how he likes to call things, knowing what he may be thinking in certain situations just so we can all be on the same page. I think that’s huge.”

In the first year under Coach Josh McDaniels and Graham, players were working on learning the system and trying to figure out their roles. This year, players have a better understanding of what they are supposed to do within the system, which allows them to be more free-flowing and comfortable on the field.

“Yeah, definitely,” Nichols said when asked if players are having more fun this year compared to last year. “You could definitely feel the energy that guys are having a lot more fun out there. Guys are just flying around, guys are doing whatever they've got to do to just have fun, and that’s something we preach as a unit.

“At the end of the day, we’ve been blessed enough to play this game and we’ve been playing this game since we’ve been kids, and we started playing this game because we had fun playing it. That’s something that we just wanted to get back to and just be able to remember that you’re out there and you’re doing something that you love to do. You get to fly around and hit people for a living, so have fun doing it.”

The Silver and Black open the preseason by hosting the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Aug. 13, at 4 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. PDT.

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