New Raiders' RB Bolden Talks Move from Patriots with McDaniels
HENDERSON, NEV.--The Las Vegas Raiders' Josh McDaniels was able to convince one of his key weapons from the New England Patriots to join him in Brandon Bolden.
Bolden figures to be a key part of Mcdaniels' offense, and after practice, he spoke about his thoughts on the Silver and Black transition, multiple players, and much more.
You can watch the video of his press conference below, and read the transcript.
Running Back Brandon Bolden
Q: How much different is New England from this organization right now?
Bolden: “I mean, what you mean, weather-wise? (laughter)
Q: Is this like recreating what's happening in New England, or is this something totally different?
Bolden: “This is something totally different. Josh (McDaniels) is going to put his own spin on things. Is it a few things that we learned along the way because I was there with him a lot of the time. I mean, sure. But we're not trying to be New England. We're not trying to be like New England. We're the Las Vegas Raiders and that’s what we’re going to play as.”
Q: How is that weather adjustment though?
Bolden: “I’m not going to lie to you, I kind of like it.”
Q: Are there characteristics that you feel like you want to see this time of year to kind of give you a good idea of where this thing might be headed?
Bolden: “At this point in the year, we just want to make sure we get everything down. We want to get techniques down. We want to get fundamentals now. We want to get the playbook down. For a lot of guys, this is the first time hearing the terminology and concepts. And so, as far as for me, I'm getting into the book myself and helping guys along the way.”
Q: How much of an advantage is that to come to a new team and already know your head coach because you've worked with him for so long?
Bolden: “That's a big advantage. You kind of know what to expect. You know how to go about things for practice and you can give guys the heads up, ‘Hey, this is what they're looking for on this, that and the third.’ So, it helps, and it helps me as a player. It helps my teammates being able to tell them what to expect on a daily basis and things like that. So, I feel as if we continue to do that and continue to work together, we'll be fine.”
Q: What does it say that a lot of the guys like (Darren) Waller, (Derek) Carr and (Hunter) Renfrow have watched a lot of old Patriot film?
Bolden: “Yeah, that’s teach tape. It’s like this how we did it there and this is how we're going to do it while we're here. So, I mean, like, you can watch old film. I mean, that's how we all got here. That's why we all still playing because we watch old film and it's a lot of great players that came through and a lot of stuff you can learn from. Was everything perfect when we did it up there? No, but we can learn from that and make it better. So, that's how I see it. That's how we're going about it.”
Q: The running back room is pretty crowded and versatile. How competitive is it?
Bolden: “It's very competitive, but as a group of men and group of backs who have been in systems where there is a bunch of backs, I mean, with Josh (Jacobs), Kenyan (Drake), me, Ameer (Abdullah), Z (Zamir White) and Brit (Brittain Brown), there's been a group of backs with everybody. As far as for me, and I'm telling them, I'm here to make you better and you're here to make me better, and we're going to push each other to get better. And that's just kind of how we've been going about things. We cheer each other on when we're in there. We coach each other up when we come off the field. It’s beginning to look like something nice.”
Q: How much of a difference is there between Josh McDaniels, the head coach, and Josh McDaniels, the coordinator that you knew and the message that he's trying to convey to this team?
Bolden: “That's a trick question. The same. He just says it a little more stern now. It’s like if you is getting babysit by your older brother and now the parents are nowhere at home and you're stuck with your big brother for the weekend. It's kind of like that. Josh has been cool. Just these past years to see him coming from Denver, coming back to New England. I had him since I was a rookie and just to see where he is now, like I've appreciated his journey and I appreciate being part of his journey. You know, very glad to be here. But there's no big difference between Josh the coordinator and Josh the head coach. I mean, he demands perfect, and he wants perfect and we're going to go out there and practice to make it perfect.”
Q: When you look at all the talent on this team, how good can this offense be?
Bolden: “That's one thing I'm staying away from, not projecting forward. We're taking every day one day at a time and like I said, we're still trying to figure stuff out. We're still trying to gel and trying to make ourselves a unit. So, we are going to continue to work and then we'll see how that goes when the season starts.”
Q: As a running back in the NFL and you're talking about watching tapes, what did you see on tape when you when you look at what Josh Jacobs has been able to accomplish for the Raiders in his few years in the NFL? What impressed you about him as a fellow running back?
Bolden: “I mean, what doesn't impress you about Josh? Josh is a hell of a back, a hell of an athlete, very patient, very explosive. And he can do a lot of things with the ball. So, I mean he brings a lot to the game, and he helps everybody out. I mean, even in pass protection and stuff like that, too. So, when you got guys like that and then you got the rest of the guys in the room, we're just here to sharpen each other, make each other better. And so, we're here to learn. We are going to try to add our two cents into Josh’s thing. He's going to add into the rest of us and we'll see how good we can be as a room.”
Q: Any first impressions of Zamir (White) and what you've seen so far from him in the short time?
Bolden: “I mean, they're still diving off into the playbook and as far as just trying to gather information and being able to retain it and go out on the field, he's doing fairly well. So, like I said, we'll figure it all out here in the end. But as of right now, we are just trying to learn, learn each other, learn the playbook and get ready for some football.”
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