Raiders' McDaniels Final Comments from West Virginia

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va.--The Las Vegas Raiders (1-0) are excited to be practicing this week here in West Virginia before heading up the road to take on the Buffalo Bills (0-1) this weekend in Orchard Park, N.Y.

Before the big game, Coach Josh McDaniels gave his final update moments ago on the team, looking ahead to the Buffalo Bills.

Below, you can watch all of Josh McDaniels press conference and read the transcript as well:

Head Coach Josh McDaniels

Q: This is a place you've played a lot of times and you're familiar with, so what does that environment look like for a guy that's going in there for the first time and is that something you talk about?

Coach McDaniels: "I'm not going to make a big deal out of it. I mean it's an intense environment. Their fans are really -- they provide great support for them. So, it's like a lot of places in this league, it's tough to go in there and if you want to try to use the cadence, it's not necessarily easy. They're going to make it loud and challenging. So, it's a great atmosphere for football. They do a good job of being loud, especially when you're on offense or you're in a kicking play. We just have to be able to deal with the challenges that it provides us and I thought we did a decent job last week, and it's going to be mandatory that we do it again this week."

Q: Any updates on Jakobi Meyers?

Coach McDaniels: "Nothing right now. Still going through the protocol. And that's obviously going to be a -- they'll determine the pace that that goes through."

Q: Will he play on Sunday?

Coach McDaniels: "I doubt that."

Q: Did you get what you wanted out of this week here? Are you happy with the production and all it?

Coach McDaniels: "We've had a few good days of practice. Looking forward to another one today. And I think that, just the time change, when you come and you have an opportunity to acclimate your body to eastern time zone, you feel like when you get up today, you feel like it's 8 a.m. for the squad meeting. Wednesday morning probably felt a little bit more like 5 a.m., and so, that was the purpose. That was one of the purposes that we wanted to get out of this week. And I think our guys have four or five days in this time zone, you start to acclimate and have another couple of days for the game. So it's been a good week of work, the facility, everybody here has been incredible. Our support staff did a great job of putting this all together and the video department and all the rest. We've basically have been operating like we're at home. And so that's what we wanted it to feel like and hopefully we'll, like I said, be prepared and ready to go."

Q: When you are game planning, you're a guy who likes to mitigate risk, but you also have to be a person that attacks. How difficult is that when you're putting a game plan together?

Coach McDaniels: “You've got to try to do both, you know what I mean? You can't be in a race and never put your foot on the gas just because you don't want to wreck, so there's a balance. And look, I don't think I've ever called a perfect game, or ever set up a perfect game plan, and you want to try to strike that perfect balance of we're being aggressive but we're also being smart and taking away some of the things that maybe they do best, or they do to disrupt you. You just try to find that if you can during the course of the week, find that perfect balance as best you can. We have a lot of confidence in everything we can do, it’s just a matter of how the game is going to flow and what you ultimately choose to do. But at the end of the day, no matter what play we call, execution is going to be the reason it works. The players on the field are going to be the reason it goes so we try to put them in good situations and hopefully eliminate some of those risks that you're talking about at the same time.”

Q: If there is no Jakobi Meyers, how much of an opportunity is it to get the other receivers and even tight ends Austin Hooper and Michael Mayer involved?

Coach McDaniels: "Yeah, everybody. Jakobi is a really good football player. And so, if he's not available, then everybody has to step up and give themselves great opportunities to produce. And that's a good thing for them, you know what I mean? And that's what the National Football League is about; we won't have any more weeks where we don't have somebody that's banged up. The season has begun, and the injuries will happen as nature takes its course and other people have opportunities here to go out there and produce. That's what we expect them to do, and we’re excited for those opportunities for those guys.”

Q: Even without Von Miller, what kind of challenges does the Bills' defense present?

Coach McDaniels: "Yeah, significant. They've invested a lot of draft picks and or resources into the defensive line. They got a really good front. They're really well coached. This is one of the finest coaching staffs in the entire National Football League. They use their personnel very wisely. They rotate a lot of players in there, so you're rarely going to see them where they're gassed because they got enough guys enough depth in there and they're all productive. They have pass rushers inside, pass rushers on the edge. They do a lot of good things in a running game too. So, their defensive front is formidable. Their linebacker corps has always been very good. Matt Milano is one of the best players in the National Football League in my opinion, at any position. So, blocking him, handling him in the running game, dealing with him in the pass game. He’s such a great cover player, got great instincts. You couple that with their safeties and corners; Taron Johnson is one of the best nickel backs in the game for sure. It's a big challenge.”

Q: How big is this week for Michael Mayer, Austin Hooper, and Thayer Munford because you're going to be attacking an edge on a defensive that's aggressive?

Coach McDaniels: "They mix up their alignments with their defensive ends. They'll be head up on us sometimes. They'll be outside edge, outside shade. They do a pretty good job of being physical. They use their hands really well. They're long, they have defensive ends that are long. We've got to do a good job of using our hands. So like I said, every element of their defense presents challenges, and the thing that they -- you never see them make a mistake. So, it's always they're doing the right thing. It's just you're going to have to out execute them and out play them, and that's why they're so good. They don't really give you anything easy."

Q: You've been around a lot of players over the years. There's little things that drive guys sometimes. A lot of guys talk about players drafted in front of them at the same position. Michael Mayer and Dalton Kincaid were very tied. Is that something that you see players kind of driven by, and is that a good thing when players have those little motivations?

Coach McDaniels: "I mean, anything if they use it personally, that's for each man decide what what's going to help them get up in the morning and go to work and have a great work day. I don't I don't spend a lot of time doing that. I think those types of things are very independent decisions from one another. But we're happy we have Michael [Mayer], I'm sure they're happy to have Dalton [Kincaid]. I mean, they're both good players, and I think we're both hoping that they're going to have good, long careers. So, each player is different."

The Silver and Black remain on the road this week as they travel to play the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Sept. 17, at 1:05 p.m. EDT/10:05 a.m. PDT.

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