Raiders' Josh McDaniels Monday Recap of Win Over the Broncos
HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders were able to get their first win in the Josh McDaniels era in the regular season.
Moments ago he talked about the game after seeing the film.
You can watch the entire press conference below, and read the transcript:
Head Coach Josh McDaniels
OPENING STATEMENT: “We looked at the film and certainly did some things well enough to win and I'm really proud of the group and their effort, I'd say the entire last week, not just yesterday but starting on Monday of last week and their resolve and understanding where we were and what we've had to kind of go through to learn how to do some things a little better here so that we could get a result that we were looking for. Again, it's football, far from perfect. A lot of things we can do better, a lot of things we can learn from. Often times, it's more fun to learn when you win than it is when you lose, but we're going to learn nonetheless today. A good opportunity for us to try to improve our football team even though we did get a victory and see how we can make you know ourselves and our team better as we go forward. Only thing I have an update on, relative to injuries, is Denzel [Perryman] is in the (concussion) protocol. We'll be working through that this week."
Q: After watching the film, what did you learn about the offensive line, specifically what Alex Bars, Dylan Parham and Thayer Munford, Jr. have been able to bring?
Coach McDaniels: “Alex has been a consistent contributor to us here the last few weeks. He's had great effort, a great mindset and attitude the entire time he's been here, and just consistently tries to work at his craft. I think he's given us some dependable play over there. He's been pretty physical. The communication on the left side has been pretty good. We didn't have a lot of blown assignments. There was a couple in the game that we're going to have to fix here. But, generally speaking, I think that's been pretty good. The two rookies were in there for some important snaps together, yesterday. Dylan continues to develop into the type of player we think he can be now moving from center to guard and playing basically the entire time yesterday at right guard. Give him a lot of credit for the duality that he's had to deal with already this season in four games. It's pretty impressive for a young player. And then Thayer stepped in there, and again (the Broncos) had two good rushers yesterday, really three or four, however many you want to count out there on the edge, they got good pass rushers. We tried to limit their production, some of that was with scheme and some of that obviously was with the ability to stay inside out and block them well. I thought they acquitted themselves well and gave us an opportunity there. Had two big drives in the fourth quarter to get down there and score some points to try and get the game into a two-score game, twice. So, they did their job."
Q: Are you concerned about Chandler Jones' stats through four games?
Coach McDaniels: “He's making a lot of plays that don't show up in the stats. And that's probably going to be not good enough for everybody to listen to, but he's making plays in the running game, he drew multiple holding penalties yesterday. I mean, there is ways to produce and there is a way to impact the game beyond just the one column that everybody's looking for. I thought he and Maxx [Crosby], Clelin [Ferrell], Malcolm [Koonce], Bilal [Nichols] – I thought there was a lot of different things going on up front yesterday where we created some negativity offensively for them with some of our effort, the way we were playing. We didn't always make the tackle. We didn't always get the sack, or the TFL, but we created it for somebody else to have it. Chandler is an unselfish guy, and he understands what his role is. Nobody would want to have more of those than Chandler would, but he also is not going to sit here and get frustrated with lack of those production stats. He was in there, Russell [Wilson] felt him some yesterday for sure, and like I said, he drew a few holdings calls that were important in the game. I think impact is sometimes, if you look at it and measure it just by the one column, you can misjudge it a little bit. I like the way he's playing. I like the effort he's playing with, and I think those will come.”
Q: What did you see from the guys on the interior offensive line that allowed Josh Jacobs to have success running between the tackles?
Coach McDaniels: “Denver usually does a pretty good job of setting the edge on the defense. J.J. had a couple bounce outs that I think we're okay and were pretty productive. But we knew we were going to have to try to make some hay inside and I thought he did a really good job of being patient as a runner. We had some really good double teams inside to try to create space for him inside. Those guys were working hard to do that. We can do a few things, I think, to help him out even more inside. We had some space, but I think there's some things we can clean up today. But all in all, I thought we had a hat on a hat and usually when we get him a full head of steam and an opportunity to hit the line of scrimmage without somebody at his legs, inertia takes over and he makes yards. He's hard to tackle. Getting him started, getting him going early in the game, I think was a big focus for us. I thought he carried that through to the end."
Q: Are you seeing a common theme on the times you’re not able to score a touchdown in the red zone?
Coach McDaniels: “Really, the red zone comes down to detail and execution. And I think that's really anybody. You could talk about any team, offense or defense. It's hard down there, there's less space, there's more bodies. Some teams do more to try to create confusion, or tighten down throwing lanes, or get more bodies in the box in the running game. So, whatever you're doing down there, it's certainly never going to be easy. It requires 11 guys offensively to do the right thing. There is absolutely no shortage of opportunities for us to finish and put the ball in the end zone. And again, I keep saying the same thing, I look at it and it feels like a negative, but to me it's a positive that we know what we need to do better, and the minute we start doing it better consistently, I feel like the results will change. I think that's the message to our football team in that area. There is going to be some other things that we're going to talk about too where progress is painful sometimes. You look at it, you identify what the issue is, and then you try to find the solution. Once you find the solution, now we got to work at it and get consistently good at it in practice. And then once we do it in the game, I think you come out of a game and you're five-for-five in the red zone, it's going to feel so feel pretty good and you're going to want to do that again. We're this close on a couple things and such is life in the NFL against a good defense. We're going to have to do a little better."
Q: Scoring is down overall in the NFL. Is there anything that you think defenses are doing a little differently this year?
Coach McDaniels: “I could say yes, but I would say just in general, the big picture…First of all, I don't know every team, I haven't seen every game. I don't really know across the league why that would be. You come out of training camp and you're at a certain place, and I've said this to our team too, is our job now is to, we can't say, ‘Alright, training camp ended. That's where we're going to be for the whole year.' You can't do that anymore. We used to have two a day and we used to have a multitude of different opportunities to do things that maybe put yourself in a little bit of a further position as you started the season. Any more of that and you have to take September and October and you have to continue to refine those things and build and improve and grow your team in different areas. We just have to look at each opportunity to practice like it's one of those opportunities. I don't know if that's why everything is what it is. But I think that offenses generally tend to be a little bit behind in certain cases. So, I think that hopefully over the course of time, our execution, our ability to finish in the red zone will improve, and we may see that league wide, I don't know."
Q: What have you seen from Amik Robertson, he’ll give up a play here or there, but he just keeps coming back and fighting and obviously had some big plays yesterday?
Coach McDaniels: “Yeah. He's kind of the epitome of the, I don't know the phrase, ‘the size of the dog in the fight,’ and he doesn't really know that he's not 6-4, 200, you know what I mean? I would love every player that you coach to play the way that Amik plays. He has a very short memory, and you have to have that as a defensive back. You can't sit there and fuss about the last play. You got to go make the next one. He is tough as nails. To me, I think he tackles well. I thought he made some big hits yesterday. They tried a few of those receiver screens and he came up there and really set the edge on the defense there and didn't let the ball get up the field. And he plays hard on every play. So, he earns everything he gets out there, man, because he plays so hard with such great effort. Just really a pleasure to coach, a guy who brings it every day, wants to get better, does it in every area of the building – weight room, training room, takes care of himself, comes in with the right mindset. And he just plays his butt off. So, proud of him and excited that he had a good day yesterday. And again, he had a good day and gave up a play here or there, but again, that's not something that's going to really faze Amik. He's learned how to deal with that at corner and comes back and really plays hard the next snap.”
Q: Is he an example of players investing in themselves and also staffs investing in players even though the payoff might not be immediate?
Coach McDaniels: “Yeah. Every player has value, and we all know that. We've told them that a lot and our job is to try to help them grow and reach their potential as a player. And their job is the same, to do all the things that they can do to help themselves reach their potential, and Amik is one of many that are doing that on a daily basis. He's not where he will be ultimately, but he is really improving and growing as a football player.”
Q: In speaking with Amik after the game, he said he was recruited out of high school as an athlete. Watching him operate in space on that fumble and score, did he come to you yet and tell you he wants to play offense?
Coach McDaniels: “No, but he looks like he could, doesn't he? There was about six times yesterday where I thought he was going to get tackled and he kept squirting through there. It looked like a kickoff or punt return once he got the ball. So, no, he hasn't seen me yet today, but he might have the conversation and I might think about it too. Look, he's fast. We all know he's fast. He's hard to bring down because he's tough and he's low to the ground. But no, I thought he did a good job of running with the ball once he got it.”
Q: Daniel Carlson has 35 consecutive field goals and leads the NFL. How big of a security blanket is it for you knowing if you call his name, he’s money?
Coach McDaniels: “I've said this before, I think our specialists are, when you talk about two on the same team, I feel blessed that these two are the two we have. And include Trent [Sieg] in there two, all three of them. The operation is good and then when you send them out there, you have confidence that the play is going to go your way, and Daniel has really come through in the clutch obviously for this team in the past and continues to do so for us now. So, I have all the confidence in the world in him. You send him out there, you expect the scoreboard to change and that's generally what he's done.”
Q: Maxx Crosby said that last week was so positive and constructive in the conversations with the guys in the building. Was that a conscious effort to make sure things stay positive?
Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, like I said, I've tried to be as consistent as I as I can be as a leader, and I think they've done the same thing. One of the great lessons that I've been able to take away from my time and my experiences in other places is just you got to try to be like this as much as you can, whether we win or we lose. There are lessons to learn from both, and I think that riding a roller coaster up and down in a long season is not really a good formula. People want consistency, they need it, and I think the vibe in the building was great last week and if you would have been inside the walls, I don't think you would have none. I mean, you guys got to see the guys in the locker room and it's not downtrodden and those kinds of things, and we don't want it to be that way. We know that there's ups and downs during the course of the season and that was just one of the things we tried to emphasize to them last week. Let's just get better, let's work hard. We've been working hard. There's going to be a few things that we're going to need to improve on and change. I thought their attitude was tremendous from Monday on. The big challenge now for us this week is we want to do it the same way. Do the same thing, have the same urgency, have the same intentions, have the same attitude, have the same vibe and be critical on ourselves about the things we can do better after a victory, not just after a defeat. So, we'll work hard at that this week, and I think they really respond to that.”
Q: Towards the end of the game on that third and one, you brought in Zamir White to help seal the game. What was the thought process of putting Zamir in on that play and do you see his role expanding more as the season progresses?
Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, Zamir is ready to go the entire game and obviously play some of the kicking game too. In short yardage, those are plays that you get to run them once, you really do, and we've used different schemes throughout the course of the season so far. And one of the things we had done was we had used Josh [Jacobs] inside as a fullback. I believe it was the Arizona Game, and he created a first down for himself as a fullback. So, we put him out there and they noticed he was out there, which they should, it's a good defense. We felt like we might have an edge to get the ball to the corner if everybody was going to try to play inside, so I thought Derek did a good job of making a good pitch and then Zamir obviously outran everybody to the corner. Just using our guys to the best of their ability. Zamir’s time is going to come, but as I said last night, we got a guy that's really running well. And one of the unique things about Josh Jacobs is you never seen him do this (taps helmet for substitution), and I think that's a tribute to the kid and how much he loves football, how hard he competes on a play after play basis. And again, it says nothing negative about Zamir. Zamir is ready to go. So, Josh has got to open the door and say come on in and take a couple reps off me, and he hasn't done that a whole lot, and I'm okay with that. He’s got that mentality and that physicality about him that he can handle that, so Zamir will have opportunities definitely going forward.”
Q: I was wondering a couple of years ago, following a win in Kansas City, Jon Gruden took his team on a bus tour around Arrowhead stadium. I'm wondering if you would be up to something similar to an excursion like that if you beat the Chiefs?
Coach McDaniels: “We’re just going to get on the plane and come back home. Win, lose, or draw, we're going to get on the on the bus and get to the plane and come on back here. We have a short bye week next week, so we can use all the time back here we get. No, we'll prepare as hard as we can, go out there and put our best out there, and see what happens on Monday.”
That Las Vegas Raiders travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Kansas City Chiefs next. That game is on Monday, Oct. 10, and it can be seen on ESPN. The game starts at 8:15 p.m. EDT/5:15 p.m. PDT.
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