McDaniels Talks Frankly on Raiders

Las Vegas Raiders Josh McDaniels has been refreshingly frank since he moved to the Silver and Black, and spoke at length recently at the NFL owners' meetings.

HENDERSON, Nev.--Recently at the NFL owners' meetings, new Silver and Black Coach Josh McDaniels spoke to the media.

The Raiders' new direction was certainly was the topic, and as usual, McDaniels didn't disappoint.

Above is the entire video of the conversation, and you can read the transcript below.

Head Coach Josh McDaniels

Q: When were the seeds first planted on the whole Davante Adams trade? How did that first come about and what were the first talking points?

Coach McDaniels: “Dave [Ziegler] talks to all the teams, and you just kind of want to make sure you have a relationship with everybody. If there's anything like that that's out there, you just try to see if there's opportunities to improve your team. I don't know exactly the day or anything like that, but when it became apparent that they were going to think about doing something like that, then you have to start doing your work and really diving into the process of researching the player, the players fit, and anything that you can to try to figure out if it's something that would make your team better. And then that's a different process, which involves a lot of different layers and research, phone calls, tape evaluation, contacts, and hopefully when you're making a decision that is of that magnitude that, you cross all the T's and dot all the I's, and with Davante, we just felt like this was the kind of a player that we would consider doing this for. He's certainly been a great football player and after having an opportunity to meet him and spend some time with him the other day, everything that we had heard, everything that we were told, all the different recommendations and all the different things that we heard about him as a person, those were true, too. So, feel really comfortable about the decision that we made and really good about the player and the person that we've added to our team.”

Q: When Davante says they he already talked to Derek Carr about not having to feel obligated to throw the ball to him all the time, from a coach's perspective, how pleasing is that when a player like that lets everyone else know it’s not about numbers but about wins?

Coach McDaniels: “I think that says a lot about him. He's unselfish, and at the end of the day, I think you're talking about two really mature guys. Look, if you want to win and you want to win playoff games and you want to compete to do the things that we want to do in our organization, and those players want to do themselves as teammates, those are the things you have to do. There's really no choice about this. I mean you can't just be hardheaded and start throwing it to one person and all that stuff. That'll never work. I don't care who the two people are. I've been fortunate to coach some different combinations of those kind of players. The right thing to do is always what's best for the team. And I think those two guys understand that and the fact that they have a great attitude about it, I think is really helpful for everybody else.

Q: How key was that relationship between Davante and Derek going back to college for this thing to really happen?

Coach McDaniels: “It's hard for me to say because when we were made aware that they would possibly move him, at that point it really wasn't about a relationship that they had. I knew of it; I was aware of it and certainly am aware of it, but I don't think that really had much to do with our interest. We were looking at it from, alright, from a football perspective, does this make sense? Certainly, their relationship for them, it clearly made a lot of sense for them to want to do that. But I'm sure there's probably a lot of players that have played with other guys that want to have a chance to play together and maybe they don't ever get the chance to do so. So, we were looking at it from a football perspective, from the Raiders perspective, does this make us a better football team? What do we have to give up? Is it equivalent to the player we think we're getting back in return? Those are hard decisions. And so, we were looking at more from that perspective. Really on a personal note, happy for those two guys. There's not a lot of guys who get to do that. I'm excited for those two guys personally because I know that they have an affection for one another as people and families and those kinds of things. It runs a lot deeper than football, so it'll be fun to watch those two guys together.”

Q: How does this make you become more competitive in your division?

Coach McDaniels: “I think we added a good football player and so any time you can add a good football player, I think that helps your team. Certainly, you have to give up something. Any time you do something like this, there's a give and a take. There are times where you're willing to do it and times where you’re not. And so, we just felt like the investment at this point would be worth it for us. Hopefully we can make the most of this opportunity.”

Q: As far as the offensive line, do you feel like the answers are there on the roster? Or is that something you still have to address?

Coach McDaniels: “I think you always try to do what you feel like is best to improve every area of your football team. And I know that there were some things in free agency where you're going into it and saying, ‘Okay, let's take a look at all these different areas.’ And sometimes it just doesn't really fall within your range, or it gets to a point where you don't feel comfortable doing it. I know we had some interest in some people to try to improve the overall group, the depth and the competition of the group. I think we have a lot of players there that are not at their ceiling yet, and I think our jobs as coaches will always be to try to maximize the players that we have. So, there's a lot of ways, you can add players, you can improve them. And so, we're going to take every avenue we can and try to do that. We still have the draft and will still have post draft and we still have June, and we still have August. There's a lot of different avenues to do that. But I’d say, I feel pretty good about the group that we have and now our job in the short term here is to try to coach them, get them to play better, each group, each man to play better and that's what I'll focus on.”

Q: What does Chandler Jones bring to the locker room? And as a player, how excited are you to work with him again?

Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, I’ve known Chandler for a long time. Chandler is a really good guy and he's obviously a great football player. He has an infectious personality. He practices like that. He comes to work with a smile on his face. He's an easy guy to like. I think that his teammates will embrace him quickly, I’m sure, and he'll reciprocate that with what he does for them in practice and hopefully on the game field.”

Q: How much has the wide receiver market changed in the last couple of years?

Coach McDaniels: “I'd say, it seems like it's changing. I don't know if it's totally done changing or not, but I think people are valuing those kind of players a little differently now maybe than what they were years ago. I think a lot of it is what do you think that the player is going to do for your team. If you feel like this player is really going to dictate a lot of stuff that you're getting defensively and how you're being defended, and then you can use that to your advantage. I think you have to make a decision on how much you're willing to pay for that because it seems like the price keeps going up. You can certainly take the other route and try to find him in the draft and develop him and those types of things. And there's nothing wrong with that. We’ve done that where I've been before. You have to make a decision on where you're going to put, let’s say your top dollars, and it seems like that position is certainly kind of growing on the league.”

Q: In terms of the quarterback market and how high it’s going, when you talk about Derek Carr and seeing where all the pieces fit, are you talking about where it fits financially or him as a player on his team?

Coach McDaniels: “Derek’s fit on the team as a player is obviously what we’re looking for and what we want to try to build around. Our relationship continues to grow personally. We won’t be able to do anything on the field here for a little bit, but that'll be a process. I think ultimately, you try to do what's best for the team and I think both sides got to do what's best for them. When we get into those conversations with Derek, Derek is going to have to make decisions about what's best for him. That's what each man’s right is, and they should do that for their families. And at the same time, we’ve got to try to do what's right for the team, and there will be a sweet spot in there hopefully for everybody, and we'll be excited to go forward like that.”

Q: Do you see addressing the offensive line as a big need? Or are you okay with the guys you have right now?

Coach McDaniels: “Again, our job is now going to be to work like hell to improve the guys we have. If we can improve any position on the team, we’ll do so. You draft for need, or you sign for need, I mean if you make mistakes, you don't really make yourself better. You know what I mean? If there's a good fit at any position, offensive line, defensive line, corner, receiver, tight end, whatever it is, we’re trying to make the team better in any way that we can. The guys we have on the roster right now are competitive and we’re going to try to coach them and improve them, and that's our job. If we can't make the players on our team better, then we got to do something different. So, we feel like that’s a big role that we got to play and we're excited to get that part started here in April.”

Q: What do you see out of Brandon Parker and Jermaine Eluemunor? What do those guys bring to the mix?

Coach McDaniels: “Well, I know Jermaine from New England and he played some football last year here. And then obviously Parker has played a lot of football here. Guys that have a lot of snaps in games, have some flexibility from a position standpoint, which I think is really important. When you're putting that group together, you can't just put a bunch of one trick ponies together. So, Parker, can he swing? Yes. Jermaine has guard, tackle flexibility. You never know in this day and age, what you're going need, and you certainly can't go in there with a bunch of one position players. So, the versatility and flexibility that they offer you and that we're going to try to create in the offensive line room is important and those two guys are two good examples of that.”

Q: How key then is Alex Leatherwood and what he does, whether he's out of tackle or guard?

Coach McDaniels: “He's an important part of it. Had great conversations with Alex so far. He's excited. He played a lot of football as a rookie and that counts for something, you know what I mean? And you can say, well it was this or that. I know this, his second year is going to feel like his second year, not his rookie year because he was in there a lot. He played a lot of snaps. He played tackle, he played guard. And we're going to try to give him an opportunity to earn a role that’s his best fit and that's the best fit for the Raiders. And look, we know what he was drafted for and we're going to give him an opportunity to do such, but ultimately what we want to do at the end of the day is we're going to let the best five guys out there. The best five guys we can put out there to protect the quarterback and run the football and be physical, that's what we're going to try to do.”

Q: What makes a player-for-player trade so uncommon in the NFL?

Coach McDaniels: “I think it kind of has to fit together, relatively speaking. The value that you see in one player versus another. There's a contractual element to it also. For us, it kind of was a two-step process. Chandler Jones, Yannick [Ngakoue], then we had an opportunity to add Rock [Ya-Sin]. So, there was multiple factors into it. I think if you look at that just on the surface and say on- for-one, one guy's contract was at a different place than another’s, so there was a lot of elements to that one that kind of made it work for us and for them. But it's not easy to find that, where everybody feels like, ‘Oh yeah, it's totally equal, let's just do this.’ That's why I think it's a little difficult to see that happen more in the NFL.”

Q: Was there talks between the team and Stephon Gilmore? And how viable were those talks, if so?

Coach McDaniels: “We talk to every free agent. Dave does that. His group does that. But there's been nothing substantial in that regard.

Q: Is he a player that you guys were trying to seek to help with the secondary?

Coach McDaniels: “I have a lot of respect for Steph and what he's done in his career. Certainly, we would look at anything at any position if we thought it would help us. Obviously, it's got to fit on both ends.”

Q: When you added Davante, what does that do for Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow in terms of schematically?

Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, I think when you put guys together on the same group and you can put them on opposite sides of the ball, the defense has to make some choices in who they're going to single, who they may try to roll to, how they're going to cover everybody. And ultimately, if you've got enough talented guys out there, you let the coverage dictate where you're going to go with the ball. Hopefully you have a match-up that's in your favor. We'll see. There's still a lot of work to be done. There's a lot of building and progressing to happen here as we go, but we like the idea of what we have. But ideas are just what they are on paper until we start to see them happen on the field consistently. We can handle a lot of different things. There's a lot of fundamental work that's going to need to be done for us to realize whatever potential we may have.”

Q: What do you think about the Tyreek Hill trade and him being out of the division?

Coach McDaniels: “He's still in the AFC. He's a great player and he makes you have to defend him on every play. And so, there's only a handful of guys like that in the league. He's a special player. We've played against them a lot and he's done a lot of great things in our league. The Chiefs are great, not just because of one player, they got a lot of great players, and they got a great coaching staff and a great culture and a great organization. They're going to be an incredible challenge for us this this year. They've got a lot of capital in the draft. They're not they're not done building their team like we're not done building ours. We'll look forward to the challenge. But again, they're there are a lot more than one man.”

Q: What stood out about Russell Wilson being traded to the Broncos?

Coach McDaniels: “There's a lot of things that stood out about Russell. I'd say, he's a great competitor. He's always out there, you can start with that. There's a lot of guys that have trouble staying out there on the field as much as Russell has. But for as much as he's done with his legs and extending plays, his body has been pretty durable. It's hard to count Russell out of anything. He throws a great deep ball. He's got a great command of the offense. He’s hard to tackle and get down in the pocket, out of the pocket. You never feel like you've really got to a comfortable lead with Russell on the other sideline. So, that's a huge addition for the Broncos and it'll be a big challenge for us this year.”

Q: When you guys decided to trade Yannick, was Rock Ya-Sin somebody that you had a clear eye on in terms of getting back?

Coach McDaniels: “We just tried to improve a position on our team where at the time we didn't have a ton of depth. And Rock has obviously been a guy that’s had a productive three years. Had some ups and downs, like most players do, but certainly has an opportunity to improve and help us at that position and we're looking forward to working with him.”

Q: Are you worried about the ‘Patriots-West’ moniker at all?

Coach McDaniels: “We have a few coaches that I've worked with before and a few guys that have been in New England, but this is all about what the Raiders are going to do. We're going to create our own culture and the culture is going to be determined by the players, the people in the building, the standard that Mr. Davis has set and the accountability that we all have to it. So, we're excited to work on that. It's a process, but we got a lot of great people in the building, starting with the people that were there long before I got there and so I'm really excited to join in that culture and then try to further it as we go.”

Q: How excited are you to work with the familiar faces in guys like Brandon Bolden and Jakob Johnson?

Coach McDaniels: “Look, the opportunities that we had to add a few players that you have some familiarity with, that never hurts. The coaching staff is another big thing, when you have the opportunity to do that. When I went to Denver, I really didn’t have an opportunity to bring people that had worked with me before. I had only been in the league for eight years, so I didn't have as much experience and as many connections as I do at this point. It's a blessing that we have an opportunity to work together, some of us that have had those relationships. You just hit the ground running a little quicker when you have the opportunity to do that, and those guys have done a great job. I'm really pleased with our staff, the way they're working, their mindset, their attitude, their work ethic has been tremendous so far this Spring. I give them a lot of credit for the time they’re spending at the facility. It's tireless. Most of our families aren't out there yet. We go from the end of one season and it’s work all day and all night now. Really enjoy being around this group of guys.

Q: (No microphone)?

Coach McDaniels: “I've never really given it a whole lot of thought. I mean if they ever did that obviously that would flip some things around for you. But I've never really considered it much because I don't know that they'll ever do it, you know what I mean? It's something that I probably would have to see it change before I would give it a lot of thought.”

Q: After making big a couple of big trades this offseason, are you in a win now mode?

Coach McDaniels: “I think everybody is just trying to do what they think is best for their team. You take advantage of opportunities that you think can make your team better and we’ve tried to do such. I know other teams have done the same thing. Look, if you’re not trying to win, I don’t know what you’re doing at this point. I think we are all in that mode of trying to do what’s best for our football team so we can compete and win as many games as possible. That’s what they pay us to do. So, we’re going to try to do that. I know every other team in the league, in the conference is going to do the same thing As many ways as you can improve your team, that’s what you are going to try to do.”

Q: Is it surprising how many big moves were made in the AFC West?

Coach McDaniels: “No. I guess not surprising. It just seems like, you wake up and every other day there's something exciting happening in the AFC West, I guess. I think it's great. I think it's great for football. I know we're super excited to have the opportunity to compete in this division. There is some great teams, some great players some great coaches, and they're all trying to get better. No two years are the same, so we’ll see what comes in 2022. But I know we're all competing hard to try to make our teams the best we can make them.”

Q: (No microphone)?

Coach McDaniels: “Hopefully it will show itself. I'm excited for him to build that kind chemistry with all of our skill players as the quarterback. Certainly, he and Davante have a relationship. That will be important for their growth. I think them being unselfish, wiling to really spread that relationship amongst their teammates is going to be important for us.”

Q: How important was it to lock up Maxx Crosby on the defensive side with that extension?

Coach McDaniels: “It's important. It’s an important position. If you can score or affect the quarterback on defense, those are two really important things to every football team, and obviously Maxx can do that. He can affect the quarterback on the other team. The other thing I love about Maxx Crosby is, he's in the building first every day. I'm not sure I know anybody that works any harder at his craft than he does. He's unselfish. He's got a great team first attitude. He's a great example for what you want in a football player. And so, to reward people that do those kind of things, you never regret those things. It’s exciting for our team and our organization to have an opportunity to watch him grow into the person and player that he's become, and then we're all going to be witness to it going forward.”

Q: Do you envision Nate Hobbs playing in the slot cornerback position?

Coach McDaniels: “There will be an opportunity for Nate to compete at all those spots. We've talked about that already. Nate’s a very competitive guy, he’s got a good skill set. We're excited to work with him for sure.”

Q: When you were building your staff. at what point did you know you wanted to bring in Patrick Graham? What stood out about him?

Coach McDaniels: “I mean I've always been fond of Patrick. He's a great coach and he's a great person. So, when you're thinking about doing these kind of things and having an opportunity, if it was presented, you always have to be mindful of who you may be able to add to your staff and surround yourself with. And you want to put as many good people and good coaches around you as you can and Patrick's at the top of that list in both categories. He's done a lot of great things. I'm excited to work with him. I’m excited to learn from him. He's already doing a great job with our defensive staff right now.”

Q: What do you think about coming back to coach in the AFC West? And what were you able to take away from your first experience as a head coach in Denver?

Coach McDaniels: “I learned a lot from my experience there and since then. I have a little familiarity with the AFC West and now excited to be back in a very competitive division. Certainly, they just added a player in Russell Wilson that has been a great, great player for a long time. And I know the standard and the expectations in Denver are to win and win a lot and then to win championships. And we're going to try to do the same thing here. I know that's what Mr. Davis has made clear. That’s our commitment. So, it'll be exciting to have the opportunity to coach against them, the Chiefs and the Chargers. We've got a hell of a division here.”

Q: What do you think of kind of the arms race going on in the AFC West with the quarterbacks and receivers?

Coach McDaniels: “I think each team try to do what they think is necessary to improve their team. None of this stuff really matters unless you can get it all to work the right way when you get on the field. So, I think there's been a lot of transactions and there’s been a lot of changes, and now there is going to be a lot of work that needs to take place between now and September, and between September and the end of the season. There's a lot of building, there's a lot of improvement that we certainly have to make on our football team. And that's where the focus is probably going to lie for most of us coaches at this point. It's not staring at the piece of paper and feeling really good about the names that are on it, but right now it's time to go to work and see what we can make of this group. So, eager to do that in Vegas but I'm sure everybody else is as well.”

Q: What do you make of all these blockbuster trades happening in the same offseason?

Coach McDaniels: “I don't know. I've thought about that. Somebody suggested is it some of the youth in some of the general manager positions? I mean I don't really know. I think that whenever a good player is accessible, somehow, someway, I think you always kind of turn over every stone and see is it something you'd be interested in doing for your team. For us, we felt like it was in our case. But there's a lot of other opportunities out there that maybe you don't do. I think they've always been out there, it’s just have people been willing to go that route and make the commitment from a draft pick perspective, or financial commitment, to add those players on their team. I don't think it's a coincidence, but I do think it's a trend.”

Q: Are there still untouchable players in trades?

Coach McDaniels: “I think people have to make hard decisions. Look, you can pay a certain number of people, but you can't pay everybody at the same level. And some people try to do what they think is in their best interest and there's going to be more tough decisions ahead for everybody.”

Q: Can you talk about the additions you made in the running back room?

Coach McDaniels: “That's a position that’s hard to stay healthy, it just is. They touch the ball more than everybody but the quarterback, and they get hit more than anybody. We have a couple guys that are rehabbing now and so to have depth in that room is important because if you don't have quality depth in the running back room today in the NFL, a lot of times you're going to run into some issues and some injuries you know, and then you get caught in trying to make a quick transaction during the middle of the season. So, we’ve always tried to have as much depth in that room as we can. I think it’s a position that it’s really critical to have good players, but it’s also really good to have good depth that you can plug in there and they can serve a lot of roles.”

Q: What does Davante Adams do for this offense?

Coach McDaniels: “He’s been a premier player for a long time, and I have a great deal of respect for him as a player and what he's been able to accomplish. He's very versatile. He's aggressive, he’s physical. He wins on third down, he wins in the red zone. He can handle himself against man coverage. He has great savvy and awareness against zone. He's a very well-rounded player and he deserves the credit as well as the people that have coached him in Green Bay. Certainly, they've done a great job with him and he's a really, really hard worker. And getting to meet him last week and really sit down and talk with him, it's easy to see why this guy's been successful. He's very driven. He’s mature, he’s intelligent and he knows what it takes to work hard and be productive at his position in this league. We’re really thankful to have him.”

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