Raiders MLB Robert Spillane's Entire Mini Camp Comments

HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders held a mandatory mini-camp today, and middle linebacker Robert Spillance spoke after practice.

The Pittsburgh Steelers hated to lose Spillane this past offseason, but he is excited to be in Las Vegas.

We have all of his comments that you can watch, and read the transcript below:

Linebacker Robert Spillane

Q: Pittsburgh didn't want to lose you. They were very open about it, but the Raiders wanted you more financially. It wasn't a divorce sometimes where players want to get away from the organization, or they did from you. How hard is that to make an adjustment because they loved you and you loved them?

Spillane: "It was more about how excited the Raiders were when they called me during free agency. I truly felt that love from the organization from the first second I got on the phone with Dave Ziegler and Coach [McDaniels], and even a guy like Maxx Crosby reaching out and giving me a call means a lot. So, feeling like I was walking into a family made it feel like it was OK to leave Pittsburgh for me."

Q: You've been part of a program that kind of hangs its hat on toughness and defense. It's been a little bit of a struggle defensively here for the last few years. Are you seeing some of the attributes that you want to see from this group that leads you to believe that this thing could get pointed in the right direction?

Spillane: "Of course. Every year is a new year, new guys, new system. I think we're really coming together well, and as long as we bring that blue collar toughness with us on Sundays, we should be good. So, communication is at a high, working together is at a high, but when we get the pads on, that's when the physicality comes in."

Q: Over the last nine games of last season, you played every snap on defensive and every snap on special teams. It can't be underrated in this league how much availability matters. Can you talk about that side of your game?

Spillane: "One of the first things I learned when I came into the NFL under Mike Vrabel was: 'Availability is your best ability.' And that holds true to this day, and it will hold true as long as there's the NFL. I had a coach tell me in college: 'You're going to have to learn how to play hurt.' Guys get hurt all the time and even you might be injured, and you got to learn how to play injured as well. So, it's all about mental fortitude and being willing to go out there for your teammates to get the job done."

Q: Can you talk about the differences between the two schemes you’ve played in? And what about your skill set do you bring to the table in this scheme?

Spillane: "I mean, all of these NFL teams are so multiple in packages in terms of fronts. We have all the same fronts here that we did with Pittsburgh – nickels to dimes to full house packages. So, we got it all in in the playbook, and I'm excited to see where it takes us this year."

Q: It can get pretty hot out here in Las Vegas. With a day like today, is that kind of a welcome day to work out in the cooler weather?

Spillane: "We embrace the heat, we embrace the cold, we embrace the rain, we embrace the snow. I mean, circumstance does not dictate our behavior out there. So, we know any given day we're going to go out on the field, it's going to be 100 yards long, 53.3 yards wide, so the weather doesn't have any outcome on that."

Q: As a veteran player, what's your main focus for minicamp? What are you trying to get out of this week?

Spillane: "During the offseason, this is a time to really get to know your teammates, get to understand how your players are playing around you, especially being a middle linebacker. I want to know how the guys in front of me are going to play in certain blocks and certain schemes, and I need to know where the guys are going to be behind me so I can have that trust and each other and we all trust each other going forward."

Q: What sticks out to you about Divine Deablo?

Spillane: "He comes to work every day. … He had said that about me yesterday. But I love Divine because he's willing to communicate, he's willing to be a good partner. And any good defense has two inside linebackers who really play well off each other. So, this is the time for us right now to really understand each other’s skill sets and learn how to grow together."

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