Las Vegas Raiders Andre James on Offensive Line
HENDERSON, Nev.-Andre James grew every game last year in his first season as an NFL starter. That improvement, combined with an outstanding training camp has him on the cusp of stardom.
James spoke after practice about his growth and the growth of the offensive line for the Las Vegas Raiders.
You can watch the entire press conference below, and read the transcript:
Center Andre James
Q: What kind of growth have you seen from Thayer Munford since OTAs?
Center Andre James: "Thayer has grown a lot. I think he's one of the one of the players that's grown the most I've seen so far. He's one of those players that have really dialed into a lot of what the coach is saying. He's just grown every day and just gone out there with an intent to practice and he's made some big strides."
Q: How much did it help you learn the new scheme to be able play in the preseason game last week?
James: "It's super important. You can make all these drills and stuff in practice, you can go out and do that, but nothing is like actually going out there and playing the game. So those preseason reps are really critical for me to be able to go out there and make those calls and fell the situations as an actual game situation. So I try to take advantage as much as possible with those situations."
Q: How would you rate your performance last week and then kind of the offensive line as a whole?
James: "There's always stuff we can clean up, but I feel like this is the time - early in the preseason, this time to do it and make those mistakes. Always stuff to clean up, always stuff to grow from, and like I was saying earlier, that's when you want to do it. You want to do it in the preseason. So just growing off that every week, that's what we want to do in camp and we're just going to continue to do it."
Q: It seems like particularly in the run game you guys were kind of mauling them a little bit. Did it feel like you were in a rhythm in the run game?
James: "Yeah no doubt. Early in camp we've been harping on double teams. Double teams have been super important to us and just feeling these combinations in the run game and feeling one another and how we want to fit them. We came out with intent to run the ball and that was our mindset and what we're going to come out to do."
Q: From your perspective, having such a versatile and diverse group of running backs, does that affect the way you guys approach your job?
James: "Oh yeah, no doubt, we have a great group of running backs. We really don't take into account who's doing it, because we trust each one of them, but when you've got dudes like Josh Jacobs back there running it, you know he's going to hit those gaps really hard. So we just do our best and guys like that to make our job easier."
Q: Lester Cotton looks like he's the guy that's going to have a big role with you, and he's had quite the journey to get to this point. You've been around him for all of that. What has stood out about him getting to this point?
James: "Me and Lester came in together, and I'm just super proud of him because he came in earlier with me as a rookie and struggled with his weight early. It's no secret to anyone, but he'll be the first one to tell you he worked super hard each day he wasn't here with us when he was gone. And just to get back on track with him, it's been amazing. My hat's off to him, he's been working really hard. It's awesome having him back in the line with us, love playing next to him."
Q: Now that you've worked with him for a few months, how would you describe the Carmen Bricillo's coaching style?
James: "He's tough, he's not going to let anything slip. He's a really detail-oriented guy, and in the offensive line that's what you need. You need someone who is super into the details and is not going to let anything slip, and I feel like that's what him and this whole coaching staff bring. So we're really excited to have all these guys here and give them feedback."
Q: Obviously every player is working on their own individual stuff, but as an offensive line I think we underestimate sometimes how important it is that you all work together as one group. So not to make any presumptions, but it seems like four spots are set and one is kind of up for grabs. How tough is it to not know maybe who that other person is going to be?
James: "I just go into the mindset that my job can be taken any minute. I feel like that's the mindset a lot of these people take. I can be cut at any minute and I feel like that's what makes us better is the competition. It's a good group we have in the offensive line room, and we push each other. We push each other really hard, and we don't let the little things slip, and we're just going to continue to grow."
Q: How much do you get from Kolton Miller as far as you know tips and what not for the offensive line to make you a little bit more comfortable in your environment here?
James: "I've been playing with Kolton for a really long time since UCLA, so having him in the offensive line room and just being able to pick his brain on this and just having a lot of the older guys too that have been around - Hroniss [Grasu], Jermaine [Eluemunor] - who have a little more experience in the room and just seeing how they see stuff. It's a collaboration when you're looking at film, how guys see stuff, how Coach Carmen sees stuff. So having older guys in there, it helps out a lot, especially when you're breaking down film and getting into these preseason games when you really haven't seen a lot of film from some of these new defense coordinators. So it's really nice to have him and the rest of the
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