Raiders DC Patrick Graham Colts Week

The Las Vegas Raiders (7-8) will spend New Year's Eve in Indianapolis vs. the Colts (8-7) and are looking to bring in 2024 celebrating a New Year on their charter jet back to Las Vegas with NFL Playoff hopes still alive.

Interim Coach Patrick Graham stepped to the podium to discuss the team's state and turn the page to the Colts after a historic victory at Kansas City.

You can watch the entire Pierce press conference above and read the transcript below.

Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham

Q: Antonio Pierce mentioned this morning that your defense should not be labeled as great yet. What are your thoughts and what is there to improve?

Coach Graham: "We’ve got to keep improving, I agree. I mean, that's the goal, to go from good to great and we're not there yet. They're working toward it, but they will all tell you that. They understand there's more meat on the bone, as the saying would go. So, for us it's about having no missed tackles, having no missed ques in the game, no points. Again, the Colts are going to obviously challenge us. The quarterback is playing really well, the scheme is good. I think they're really well coached. I’ve got a lot of respect for Shane [Steichen], I think he does a really good job. The offensive line plays connected. It’s going to be a challenge, so we’re going to need our best and it's going to have to be better than it was last week to go into Indy and beat them. So, there's always room for improvement. As long as there's a practice, there's another game, there's room for improvement."

Q: I know it's been five days, but how does it feel as coordinator when your defensive is playing that well on the field? How does it feel in that moment?

Coach Graham: "I'm going to be completely honest, that game is over. As soon as I got inyo the shower, I was thinking about the Colts. How are they getting their explosive pass plays? How are they getting explosive runs? So again, if you dwell on anything in this league for too long, feel satisfied, get complacent, that's when you get passed by. You would've been better off catching me on the plane on Monday, but right now I'm just worried about the Colts and all the challenges they present, whether it's the tempo, the tight ends in terms of their vertical passing game, the receivers who are dangerous. I can't even tell you, I really haven't thought about it."

Q: Do you recall how you felt before the shower?

Coach Graham: "I smiled."

Q: Are you still smiling?

Coach Graham: "It's Friday, I get to go see the family. I'm going to see The Roots tonight. Nothing can mess up my day today."

Q: Speaking of the Colts, how do you make them into one dimensional? As you mentioned, those deep balls obviously are one of their keys.

Coach Graham: "Well, it starts with the running game with them, and the backs are dynamic. One, they run hard, they run between the tackles, they can make you pay outside on the edge, and they're tough tackles. But it all starts with the running game, which is why I'm so impressed with their scheme and how well coached they are. And then they have these perimeter receivers, including their tight ends, where they can stretch the field. So, to get them one dimensional, you’ve got to start with the running game, because that's the thing, they'll keep running the ball regardless. So, if you don't stop the running game, you're in for a long day, it starts right there. Stop the running game with good edges, getting off the blocks, and tackling. They’re tough tackles."

Q: Nate Hobbs brought up a couple times that you asked the guys to be great, not good. Is there a moment where you notice them flip the switch and just take it to another level?

Coach Graham: "As a teacher who happens to teach football, no. It's their game -- Raiders football, it's all about the players, that's how I approach it. I'm here as a coach to help teach them football, help guide them, put them in the right spots, and then when you see where they're at, then you challenge them. The challenge is can you go from being good and can you go to being great -- what's great mean? Doing the things we're talking about every day and doing them better, doing them more consistently. And for them, I don't know if there's a switch, per se, but there's a choice to be made. There's a choice to be great because in order to be great, you have to put in the work. The thing we all talked about as a group. If we want to do that, it's going to be hard. If you want to be a great coach, yeah that's fine, the idea of it. But you have to put the work in to be a great coach. Just like if you want to be a great reporter, it's not going to just come easy, you have to work at it. And our guys have embraced the work, embraced the work. They're having fun with the work, and AP [Antonio Pierce] has done a great job of encouraging those guys, having fun and working. And it's been really encouraging to watch them do that."

Q: The work that cornerback Jack Jones has been known to do, watching a lot of film. He's new to the team but he seems like he's a veteran of the Las Vegas Raiders, he's had back-to-back pick sixes. How do you how do you see his improvement and his work ethic?

Coach Graham: "Everybody talks about the energy, that's good. The skill set -- to make some of those plays, you're talking about a unique human being in terms of just athletic ability; quickness, just a toughness that shows up, and then having the ball hawking trait, everybody doesn't have that. Thankfully, we have guys on the team who are like that. When you're doing evaluations, you’re looking for guys who are ball hawks. But in terms of the film study, he's always watching tape. I hope all of them are watching tape. Right now, it's Week 16. I mean, there's a lot of stuff on tape that you could get -- you could get cues from what they're doing because they have that many games on tape. That's what we try to tell them: 'The more games they play, the more you get to know.' And that's the information we have to use as a defense as we're out there responding and reacting to what they do. Because they know their play. Can you eliminate the variables? That's the main thing, that's how you have to play defense. Can I eliminate the variables by backfield set, by formation? Then I can play faster."

Q: The average age of your secondary on the active roster is 25 years old, it's a pretty young unit. How have they been able to become a group that has been a strength of the team instead of a weakness like in previous years?

Coach Graham: "I'm not worried about previous years, it's all about 2023. 44 is young, too, just to be sure. 44 is still young. But it doesn't really matter whether it's a rookie, second year, 10-year. It's all about how you perform on Sunday. And how do you get there? Just your preparation, work in practice. So, whether you're 21 years old, or you're 35 years old, you get judged on what you do on Sunday and that comes from the work. A lot of these guys made decisions when they were 13-year-old kids that they wanted to try to get a college scholarship. So, they put the work in for that, and they got to college, and they decided they wanted to be professional athletes. They had to put work in for that. So, it's nothing new to them, I would say. I mean again, I always talk about it, that's something that you've got to acknowledge about this generation, about these guys, they're 20-something years old and the best in the world what they do. I wasn't that good when I was 20-something years old at coaching. I mean I wouldn't hire me from when I was 24-25 years old right now. I wouldn't let me coach anything."

Q: Your defense kind of showed a little bit of a new personality and a little bit of attitude against Kansas City. How do you continue that over the last few weeks of the season?

Coach Graham: "I would disagree about the new part of it. I mean, we follow our leader who is Maxx [Crosby]. I mean Maxx has been -- the best thing about Maxx to me, aside from know all the stuff he does in the community, his leadership on the field, his leadership in the classroom, leadership in the weight room, is that he's the most consistent player I've been around in my career, just consistently always doing his best, always challenging. His toughness, I mean he's been tough since I watched him when he was in college. Maxx is our leader, it is what it is. [Robert] Spillane is one of the leaders. They're all tough guys, and they're all tough guys who are relentless, who love the game of football, who want to play the game the right way. So, we just follow him and I get out of the way -- it's their defense -- and let them play. And again, Monday was a good example of it, but I would say that we've seen that because I don't think Maxx would have it any other way. And when it didn't meet the standard I'm sure myself, Maxx, AP [Antonio Pierce], everybody when Josh was here has something to say about it, but Maxx is the leader. He's the catalyst for that, and you're not going to find anybody more consistent than him."

Q: When you talk about Maxx Cosby and being a leader and the energy that these players have the match up to get to Maxx's level -- this past week we saw what Antonio Pierce mentioned, 11 hunters. How do you keep that consistency, because we've seen it in Maxx, but can we see in the rest of the defense?

Coach Graham: "The thing I love about coaching and dealing with professional athletes at this level, all they want from you is honesty. So, if they're doing it, good. When it doesn't show up, you tell them. Like: 'Is that we want it to look like? We made an agreement that we want it to look a certain way. We want to look right, we want it to sound right, we want it to feel right.' So when it's not there, part of my job as a teacher is to say: 'Hey, this is an example where we're not doing what we talked about.' And they respond. They're professional athletes, they just want the truth. They want honesty, you tell them the truth and they respond. Again, I told you I've got nothing but respect for them. They're so young and they make these hard choices. They've got to make split-second decisions out there going 19-miles-an-hour. It's amazing what they do. I love my job."

The Silver and Black continue the season on New Year's Eve versus the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Don't miss it on Sunday, December 31, at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST.

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