Las Vegas Raiders Josh McDaniels Recaps Week-One of Training Camp

HENDERSON, Nev.-In the National Football League coaches are traditionally never happy. That is why when the Las Vegas Raiders' Josh McDaniels stepped to the podium to recap the first week of camp, his ever-present smile told the story.

You can watch his entire press conference below, and read the transcript:

Head Coach Josh McDaniels

Q: Can you talk about the progress you’ve seen from the offensive line early in camp? And specifically with Lester Cotton Sr. and Alex Leatherwood?

Coach McDaniels: “The group as a whole is...again we are still in this phase where it’s no pads and there is only so much we can really evaluate with those guys until Wednesday, but working really well together that entire group. There really is no player up there that is lining up besides the same guy or two on every snap and that’s by design. Each of our periods is kind of scripted that way where they are forced to communicate with more people. There is somebody new on the right, somebody new on the left. So, right now for them because it’s really not a physical or contact portion of our year, really for them it’s about communication and trusting the guys besides you and knowing what the words mean to you. And then specifically to the players you mentioned, Lester and Alex, I mean they are doing a good job of that so far. Working well together and like I said, I think the big part of this evaluation for us up front on both sides of the ball will really start to take some shape on Wednesday and then it’s going to continue throughout training camp when we have our opportunities in pads.”

Q: Do you have to limit the physicality in practice when the pads come on, in terms of tackling to the ground?

Coach McDaniels: “We probably will not tackle to the ground ever just because again nothing is more important than the health of the team. But look, physical is part of this game. It’s a contact sport and we have to prepare our bodies for a long season, which there is a fine line between doing too much and doing not enough. So, we only have limited opportunities to do it in the month of August and a couple times in July, and we’ll take full advantage of the opportunities in pads in practice and the preseason games that we can so we can work on the things fundamentally that require us to be physical. Run blocking, defending the run, defeating blockers, pass protection, pass rush, all those things that include some element of physicality or else you’re really not working on them.”

Q: Are you pleased with the retention that players brough over into camp?

Coach McDaniels: “No question. I think that’s an element we noticed it right away, the guys they took their break, they had some time away, but they definitely didn’t turn that part off which is a good thing. A lot of the things that we were trying to pour into them in the spring and they were really grinding to learn, they’ve come back in many cases ahead of where they were. And that’s the process that we all hope to go through. There is things that I’m learning on a daily basis and it’s the same thing with our staff. And the more we do it together, the more we talk about it, the more we use the terminology, the more we see different things, the more comfortable you get doing it, and it think that’s what we’re seeing from our team right now. Again, like I said, we really haven’t had any competitive…we were competitive just a little bit yesterday in shells, but until we start to see the competition level pick up physically on Wednesday, we’ll do as much as we can.”

Q: In these practice like today where you aren’t wearing pads, what are some of the key elements you are looking for when it comes to evaluating guys?

Coach McDaniels: “Communication definitely. There’s an element of pre snap communication, there’s an element of post snap assignments that really is the most important parts of this. We spend the entire first half of the practice teaching the techniques and the fundamentals we’d like to see show up in the team drills. So, you can evaluate the communication, you can see that they know their assignment and you can see that they are trying to use the techniques and fundamentals that we’re teaching. And really there is not many good plays in football that happen without good communication and fundamentals, and that’s really a huge focus for us right now while the physical part is on hold for a few more days.”

Q: How hard is it to train outside in the conditions?

Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, it’s tough. Yesterday, we got a gift from the Gods it seemed like how it felt like I was in October back East or something. But it’s difficult, I mean I think they guys have done a great job of hydrating. And our training staff and our strength and conditioning staff have done a great job of getting our guys in condition and making sure that we are doing all the right things to recover every day, which is an important part of it, and we are all hydrated and ready to go every day which is a huge part of being able to play day after day in this weather.”

Q: When you drive into the facilities you drive through the Raider Way. What is your idea with the team? What should be the Raider Way?

Coach McDaniels: “This team has a huge history and tradition, and the will to win and the commitment to excellence that you see really at every corner of this building and in a lot of the people I’ve been able to meet since I’ve come here, they exude that every day and it starts with Mr. Davis, and like I said, that’s been in place for a long time. So, we are trying to live up to that every day that we can.”

Q: Is there a specific thing you saw in training or games from Jakob Johnson that made you bring him to New England and now to Vegas with you?

Coach McDaniels: “He’s a great human being and he’s really a good football player. He’s really worked himself into a role that fits him and hi skillset. Very tough, very physical, extremely unselfish. He’s not out there on every play but the plays that he is out there, he gives us everything he has. Extremely supportive. He was one of our offseason program winners because of the work that he puts in at the building every day and I think he’s garnered the respect and admiration of all his teammates. Believe me, there is probably not one player on our team that is more excited for Wednesday’s (practice) than Jakob.”

Q: Patrick Graham said that as much as you want the tackles for loss and sacks from the defensive line, the primary focus is controlling the line of scrimmage. Can you talk about your philosophy behind that?

Coach McDaniels: “If you can’t defeat a blocker in the game of football on defense, it’s very difficult to have control of the game. And in order to control the line of scrimmage there has got to be an element of being able to use your hands and press the blockers back and be able to shed and make some tackles. The splash plays and the plays where you just run in the backfield and nobody blocks you, those are few and far between. Every team will make a few here and there, but you can’t really count on that. There is an element of they are going to try to block you and you have to try to defeat the blocker and at its core football, that’s probably the most fundamental aspect of our game. We’re going to work hard Wednesday, Thursday and moving forward to try to develop those fundamentals that we can’t really work tremendously at right now. Those are going to start to show up in groves here once we get to Wednesday because both side of the ball are going to need to be able to try to control the line of scrimmage. It’s tough in our game to really feel like you are in command of the game if the line of scrimmage continues to get lost.”

Q: Is there a certain story or recollection from the time you spent with Richard Seymour that kind of embodies him as a player?

Coach McDaniels: “Well, Richard is a great human being. That’s what stood out to me right away when we first had him in New England. I was first impressed with how mature he was, the kind of person he was he really latched on to a lot of the veteran players right away and developed some of their great habits. As a player, I remember practices where we would have to make sure we knew on the script which plays he was in there for, and which plays he was not in there for because if he was in there for every play practice would have been a mess for us. And so, we kind of had to pick and choose our battles and he was just a really difficult guy to block, and he lined up all over the front and could be very disruptive at nose, three-technique and pass rush, run game. It was just very difficult to handle him. At his size, he was extremely athletic, very explosive, and he was that right away, right off the very first year we had him. So, tremendous honor, very deserving. Difficult to play against him when he came to the Raiders, and we had to compete against him a few times. That was very difficult. I liked it a lot better when he was on our team.”

Q: The guys have talked about watching some Patriots film as you implement your offensive system here. Is there anything you’ve seen from the first few days that’s intriguing with what you might be able to do on offense with the personnel on this team?

Coach McDaniels: “I like the way we’re working. I think schematically, again, we have a long way to go before we can really say we are good at this. We are going to try to get good at a lot of things, but multiple tight ends, receivers, are we going to be in slot formations, pro formations, empty formations? I think there is a lot still to be done and the most important part of this is how are we going to implement the physical portion of the running game, pass protection, and those are huge things that without those two things there really isn’t much to sit there and say we’re going to be this type of team. We are going to have to figure out how well we can run the football, which is obviously a huge challenge in our division. And how well we can protect the passer, so to me fundamentally those are the most important things. Whether we use two or three receivers, four receivers, two tight ends, one tight end, three tight ends, two backs in the game at the same time, fullback in the game; a lot of those things are kind of dependent on the game plan and who we are playing and what advantages we may be able to have.

But to me, what we really need to do is find out how well we can do the big things. Can we keep the quarterback upright? Can we run the football? Can we stay out of long yardage situations? Can we take care of the ball? I mean, believe me, we have scheme we will never be able to get to because there is so much of it, and that’s pretty much true for all coaches. You could sit here, and we could play a whole season in 11 personnel which the Rams have done in the past, or you could hardly get in 11 personnel. But it just depends on how you evolve and the things you end up doing well.”

Q: Can you talk about so far what Mack Hollins has done in camp?

Coach McDaniels: “First of all, another offseason award winner for us. I mean, he shows up and does a great job in our strength and conditioning program, brings a ton of his teammates along. I heard some guys…I haven’t run that yet (Mack Hollins mile). I don’t know what that is. I don’t think I could make that. (laughter) I’m glad he hasn’t asked me, but great personality. Big-time leader. Very unselfish. He’s contributed on offense where he has been at, and he’s contributed in the kicking game and so to me that’s an underrated and really not talked about enough part of our game. It’s a third of our game and this guy is out there on almost every play. Tackles, covers, can block for people on the return game and so he does a lot of those things. And the one thing about that is if you’re a core contributor in the kicking game, you are going to be at the game. He’s smart enough to move all over our offense, which is very helpful to him. He’s gotten off to a good start. It’s a very competitive situation in that room. We brought in some guys that have really done a lot of things in some different spots and he’s one of them. We’re eager to see that play out as we go forward here, and we get into some different practices with pads and then some games and that will be something we will be eager to see.”

Q: What have you seen from Tyron Johnson so far in camp?

Coach McDaniels: “I’m really proud of him. Everybody knows he’s fast, but it takes a lot more than being fast to play in our league at that position, and he’s working extremely hard to be prepared. He’s prepared every day and he knows what his assignments are. He has been able to really connect with the quarterbacks and different things. He works hard in practice. He takes care of his body. He’s now becoming that guy that is dependable from day-to-day and that’s a big word for us. There is a lot of trust that goes into the passing game and he’s going to have plenty of opportunities to do his thing, and like I said there is a lot of guys in that room that we’re eager to see and that’s what we were trying to do with every position on our team because if we can build competition what happens is T-Billy [Tyron Johnson] makes Mack [Hollins] better, Mack makes Demarcus [Robinson] better, Demarcus makes Keelan [Cole] better, Keelan makes Isaiah [Zuber] and DJ [Turner] better. That’s what we want to do and so I think that’s happening and will continue to happen hopefully.”

Q: From your perspective as a head coach who is also an offensive guy, is there appreciation in real time for when the defense makes a good play in practice? Or do you have to kind of wait to see it on film to appreciate it?

Coach McDaniels: “I’m emphasizing the team right now. It’s interesting, I win and lose on every play. I’m the only guy out there that feels that way. There is never a lapse in the appreciation level. I may spend a little bit more time certain places depending on what practice is, but when I’m watching, I’m watching on both sides and I’m aware of what both sides are calling and doing and what the intent is. And trying to do the right thing each play, I don’t coach every player on every play. That’s impossible nor would I want to do that because we have coaches that are taking care of that, but when you see something like that , what I’m looking for first is the effort, which we are getting from a lot of guys from our team. And then the technique, is he playing the right leverage? Did he do the right things fundamentally? Because for me, if we are doing the right things fundamentally, I’ll take the result. They are going to complete some passes on us this year. I mean, that’s just what it’s going to be. But he (Nate Hobbs) made a few nice plays. A lot of guys made a few nice plays yesterday on the ball defensively, and at the same time we completed passes. So, I love seeing that competition. That’s what is going to make us better.”

Q: What does Demarcus Robinson bring to the table?

Coach McDaniels: “He’s been a productive guy. He’s played in some big games. We’re moving Demarcus around a lot and playing him at different positions, which is important. He’s big. He’s over 200 pounds and catches the ball well, runs well and like I said, he’s competitive in everything we ask him to do, which I love. And he’s got a great attitude. He’s brought a lot of fire and competition to that room. Like I said, I think that room is fun to watch because there is only so many of them that you can keep, but you do a good job of trying to put the best guys in there and let them have opportunities and earn their own role and Demarcus has certainly come here with a great attitude and a great approach to practice. Nothing is too small, too big, whatever it is that we ask him to do. He’s eager to do it and he’ll be out there early on the practice field as you see a lot of our guys out there working on the jugs or something to try to improve himself. And very willing to share his experiences too. And we have a lot of guys that have some different experiences in different places, and he’s been eager to share the information that he’s learned in the league to some of our other younger players .”

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