Las Vegas Raiders OC Mick Lombardi Week 16 Update

HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders (6-8) and headed to a collision in the cold against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium on Christmas Eve, Saturday.

Moments ago, Offensive Coordinator Mick Lombardi talked about last weekend's win and the state of the franchise.

You can watch the entire press conference below and read the transcript as well:

Offensive Coordinator Mick Lombardi

Q: When you look at the five games where you've had double digit leads in the second half, obviously you won one on Sunday, but when you go back and look at what has caused the offense in those games to almost come to a stop, is it different things, is it a collection of things? Can you give us some insight?

Coach Lombardi: "I think every game is different. And whether that's third down execution, whether that's pre-snap penalties – which I think was a big issue on Sunday. Going back to getting aligned, making sure we're locked in at the end of the call, getting in the huddle, all those types of things. And when you fall behind in down and distance, I think I mentioned that numerous times before, falling behind in down and distance, whether it's pre-snap penalties, or negative runs, or it's sacks. Whatever it is, when you fall behind in down and distance, it's tough to get a drive going. And I think that's been our main issue in those type of I would say lulls, and that was our issue on Sunday."

Q: A lot of your offensive percentage comes from Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams from scrimmage, and that's partly by design because those are great players and partly because you've had a couple of guys out. But when you rely on two players like that, is that a problem? Is that a bad thing to have so much of your offense come from two guys?

Coach Lombardi: "No, I mean, obviously Josh and Davante have a great skill-set and we like to utilize that skill-set on a weekly basis. And I think when the defenses do certain things, try to take them away, or to play a certain coverage, or a scheme, then that opens up opportunities for other guys. I think you saw that on Sunday. I mean, Keelan Cole catches the touchdown at the end of the game, and the coverage they dictated the ball go to him, and he made a great play. Same thing with Mack Hollins in the Red Zone. Same thing with Darren Waller. So, I think it really provides opportunity for other guys to try to get a chance to have some production. I think Mack Hollins has been a benefit of that. I think Ameer Abdullah has been a benefit of that. So obviously, we try and go into each week and say: 'How are we going to get positive yards'. Not just who we're going to try to get the ball. So, we try and put players in the best spot to be productive, and if the ball goes a certain way in terms of coverage, and that's what it is."

Q: On the back end of that though, how much of it is a blessing to have two guys like that, who are high volume guys that demand so much attention anywhere. You have Darren Waller come back, and he does what he does, and you have Keelan Cole doing what he's doing. So how great is it to have those two guys to open up the rest of the offense?

Coach Lombardi: "I mean, obviously, as a coach, you love to have really good players in our team. I mean, look, they've been productive all season long, and they've done a really good job of doing their job, and what's been asked of them to do. Whether that's in the passing game or running game. And, obviously with Darren and Hunter [Renfrow] coming back, that provides more opportunity for them, and probably some more opportunity for Josh [Jacobs] and Davante [Adams] as well. Because obviously the defense sets the count for certain players, and certain schemes, and we're able to do different things with different people from week to week. So, it just creates opportunity for everybody, not just other guys, but also Davante and Josh."

Q: Looking at somebody like Hunter Renfrow, he got a lot of targets last year. Does that make it a little bit difficult for him to maybe kind of find his way in sort of a different role?

Coach Lombardi: "I mean, Hunter obviously had some production early in the year, and then had a big third down catch on Sunday. Again, at finding his role, your role is what you make it, right? So, obviously not being out there for majority of the season, it's tough to kind of define your role. So, I think he's still in that process, and hopefully this week, and the following couple of weeks, we can kind of grow each week, and make it more defined."

Q: Have you ever coached a better player than Davante Adams, who literally makes everyone else better. Specifically talking and going back to that Darren Waller touchdown, it looked as if he was pulled away in a unique cover. Can you talk about that play and what you saw on that play that really gave Darren Waller the look down?

Coach Lombardi: "Yeah, and that specific play, I mean, I think they were playing a lot of man coverage in the Red Zone. And again, like I said, where does the coverage dictate the ball to go? They try and lean one way to Davante, or they try and take away Josh [Jacobs] in the running game, whatever it is, and you have a one-on-one match-up somewhere else. And, obviously, Darren did a good job of taking advantage of that and went on his route. But, again, it comes down to running a good route, and having a good technique, and trying to get open at the top of the route. It doesn't matter if you're one-on-one or not; there are a lot of really good players in the league. We're going to see those this Saturday night in Pittsburgh. Whether it's [Minkah] Fitzpatrick or [Terrell] Edmunds at safety on Darren. I mean, they're good cover players. So you still have to run a good route, and have good technique, and win at the line of scrimmage to get open. There's kind of a double-edged sword there. Yeah, sure, the coverage can dictate you to get the ball, but you've got to run a good route, and have a good top of the route, and make the catch."

Q: Mack Hollins wanted more of a role as a receiver. What is it about him that you guys believed he could take the next step in that role? He's always been such a great special teams guy and what is he brought to you in that role?

Coach Lombardi: "I think Mack has done a great job in terms of giving some toughness to the offense, and some dependability. He's tough, smart, dependable – we always preach about it all the time and I think Mack Hollins is a good example of that. And again, your role is what you make it, right? So he came in here, and everybody was given the same opportunity Mack had, and he came into the system, and took advantage of it and knew what to do, and how to do it, and try to do his best in every play. And then you guys have seen that role grow. The Hall of Fame Game, the following preseason games, and then obviously opening day, he had a certain role where it was: 'Hey, I'm going to go block some safeties. Hey, I'm going to make sure I run this route at a certain depth and be the option here.' And so, he's done a really good job of that. And just overall, I really can't speak highly enough about Mack Hollins in terms of the leadership he's brought in for the offense; not just in terms of vocally, but also in terms of week-in, week-out, being the most dependable guy, and being the same player every single week."

Q: Can you talk about what Jordan Meredith and Hroniss Grasu were able to do on Sunday despite having limited snaps?

Coach Lombardi: “Yeah, no doubt. I mean, Mr. Grasu and Mr. Meredith did a pretty good job of going in there and having to play against a really stout defensive line in the New England Patriots. Obviously, they haven't had a lot of reps in practice all season, being an IR and obviously Jordan has been with us in and out, but that's just being ready to go and taking advantage of the opportunity when your time comes and preparing like you're going to play. Saturday evening, I was coming back from night meetings and Jordan’s in there watching tape, getting ready to go and he was just preparing like he was going to start. And sure enough, he went in there in the second quarter and had to play. So, I think that speaks volumes to the type of character we have in the offensive line room. They're a tight knit group and they all depend on each other. I think they have the mentality of next man up and we will all play as one collective unit, which I think really carries over as you see that on Sunday and that carried over in those situations.”

Q: What was it like as an offensive coordinator collaborating with Josh McDaniels going against your former mentor, too, in Bill Belichick?

Coach Lombardi: “Yeah, I mean, you have some familiarity with the team that you've been on previously. But I think the biggest thing that we try to do is just treat as another game, which we did. The Patriots were just another opponent we had a face off against, game plan against and we were far removed. It was Week 15 and they've been doing different things on defense that we haven't seen before, and we hadn’t really studied it and really made sure we were on top of it. We treated it just like a normal week and normal game plan process, same thing we’re doing with the Steelers. Obviously, apart from knowing people on our sideline personally, it was just another opponent that we kind of got ready for normally and prepared for the same way we normally do.”

Q: You are going up against some top single-high safeties, including Minkah Fitzpatrick. What do you see from his game and what kind of challenge will that present for you guys?

Coach Lombardi: “Yeah, obviously, Minkah is a very aggressive player, very instinctive, he can make plays on the football, he can tackle. You have to be very aware of where he is at all the times on the field; he's a very disruptive player, and there's a reason why they're productive on defense and very good on defense; a lot is because of him. [Terrell] Edmunds, the front, obviously [T.J.] Watt, Cam Heyward, like all those guys are very, very good and very fundamentally sound. They play very well in Mike Tomlin’s scheme and Teryl Austin’s scheme. They preach fundamentals, they preach toughness, they preach dependability, and you can see that show up every single week on tape. And they get to the football, they force turnovers, and they make you earn every single yard.”

Q: On the last play the game obviously there were some mistakes made on the other side. Does that kind of make you think of if you haven't coached some little things that seem obvious like that, and you have to start talking about or reminding the players about?

Coach Lombardi: “I really can't speak to the last play of the game, obviously being on the other side of the ball, but we do try to preach situational football on a weekly basis here in terms of what we're going to do at the end of the game, whatever scenario that is. Whether that's a reminder in the tip sheets or walk-throughs, but we'll cover every situation we can possibly for those situations in the game. Again, we cover them, and we have to make sure they're ready to go on Sunday and can execute them.”

The Raiders return to action on Christmas Eve, on Saturday in Pittsburgh versus the Steelers. That game kicks off at 8:15 p.m. EST/5:15 p.m. PST and can be seen on NFLN.

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