From Raiders Training Camp: OL Brandon Parker

HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders have opened their 2023 NFL Training Camp, and offensive lineman Brandon Parker took to the podium to address the media.

You can watch his entire comments below and read the transcript:

Tackle Brandon Parker

Q: Brandon, I know last year was an injury season for you. How frustrating was that kind of going through that experience?

Parker: "It's always frustrating whenever your season is cut short. Myself and many others who had kind of season ending injuries, it's never easy. But the good news is I took the time to kind of work on a lot of my weaknesses and just transform to the best player I can be. Because I pretty much had a year of offseason, so it kind of helped me."

Q: Did the injury occur in the Hall of Fame Game, and did you know initially that it was going to be what it ended up being?

Parker: "Yeah, midway through the second quarter, standing there trying to pass the TE, I tried to snap the end and I just felt a pop, and it was stronger than I've ever felt before, like a really strong cramp that just didn't go away. So I got to the sideline, did my strength test, and about 90 percent of my strength was gone like instantly."

Q: Brandon, in this league when a guy goes through an injury like you, it's very rare for a team to keep them around. They did and Carmen said yesterday: "It's not just skill, it's character with you," he likes that in the room. What does that mean to you in a league where they cut people so quick, they kept you, they believe in you?

Parker: "It means a lot. I just want to prove them right. I try to be the leader, the positive guy I am every day in the building. I trying to earn the respect of my peers every day I come in here about how I work, how I talk, how I walk. I think the coaches see that, and they were willing to give me another chance because of how I carry myself."

Q: Brandon, what was your recovery process like? When did you feel like: "OK, I'm good to go. I trust this." How long did that take?

Parker: "They told me four to six months initially. So, that would have been about December. And about mid-December, I could have come back if I wasn't on IR for the season. I felt like I had a punch, I was good enough to play. But I'm glad they didn't push me out, because I had more time to get all of my strength back. So, as football players we'll push through anything, so I would've have pushed through it, but I wouldn't have had the full strength that I needed. But I could've done it."

Q: When you have so much to be away from the game and kind of rehab, how do you keep yourself in high spirits?

Parker: "Just watched lot of film, and then being around my teammates. I would still go to the O-Line dinners. I would still be in the team meetings trying to lift them up, trying to just be around them, because I know they're going through the grit of the season so I'm trying not to be oblivious to what they're going through, but at the same time just try to rally the guys up and still find ways to be a leader without having to be in the mix with them."

Q: Last year before the injury you were in the thick of a pretty open competition on the right side of that line. How have you seen the competition change between what it was in last year's camp and this one?

Parker: "It's still a tough competition. Jermaine Eluemenor played really great last season, Thayer [Munford Jr.] played really great as well. So, in order for me to even be in the mix, I have to step my game up because they both have evolved in the following year. So, every time I see them kind of do it right, I'm trying to get right up there with them because competition breeds excellence. So, it doesn't do anything but help us all if everybody else is getting better."

Q: You've been here since 2018 with the Raiders. Do you ever look around and just wonder where everyone has gone? The changeover has been pretty incredible.

Parker: "Yes. Sometimes I do, but it's just the nature of business. There's a lot of faces that still remain through the training, equipment, the front office. So, I still see some familiarity, but it's hard to say you don't miss the bonds you built with those brothers that you go to war with. And you still see them around the league. There's 31 other teams, we play 17 of them every year. So, it's good to still see them around the league."

Q: What do you expect to get out of the joint practices over the next couple of days?

Parker: "Great competition. They're coming to compete with us with everything they've got, and we're going right back at them. In the end, it's just going to be some high quality, intense competition. So, I think they're looking forward to it just like us."

Q: You and Kolton have been here the longest of any other Raiders. How does it feel? Is it weird, and do you embrace kind of that kind of role?

Parker: "Oh it's definitely weird. We'll look at each other and be like: 'Who would've thought?' We just have those moments where we kind of give that look to be like: 'We're here.' But our work is not done, we keep working every day. We try to be the veteran voices of this group, especially seeing how we've had our ups and downs in these six years, so we try to help people through the ups and downs."

Q: Who was your vet when you first got in the league?

Parker: "Oh boy, we had a great room. We had obviously Kelechi Osemele, Gabe Jackson, Rod Hudson [Jr.], Donald Penn, John Feliciano -- who's going to be here coming tomorrow. So, I mean they all took us under [their] wing. But I would say probably the most kind of welcoming was probably Gabe Jackson, because he's the one who took me under his wing to go train in Mississippi, that really helped me kind of see how the NFL is supposed to be."

Q: What kind of stuff did he tell you about staying in the league and being a pro?

Parker: "Well one of the things that he told me -- and most vets told me -- it's harder to stay than it is to get into league, and I see it every year. They try to replace us all, they're drafting, they're trying to find ways to get better. That's their job, they're scouting. Their job is to try to evolve every position if they can. So, he said: 'You're either getting better or getting worse.' So, my goal is every offseason to try to work as hard as I can to get better."

Q: When you hear that as a young player, do you believe it?

Parker: "I believed it because as you remember, me and Kolton [Miller] got our tails kicked our rookie year, so I knew this wasn't the best we could do. So, I knew there was a better light. In order to get where we want to be and to show the product that they've seen in us, we had to keep working. So, he kept working, I kept working and we're blessed to be here in year six."

Q: What is it about Carmen [Bricillo] that you guys buy into him as a coach and a person?

Parker: "He's personable. I don't think he was blessed to play this position, but he's able to relate to us. He teaches us the technique, the schemes, everything, and he kind of knows the rigor of the season. So, he's able to try to feel what we feel, but we just buy into him because he's passionate about what he does. We know he's trying to lead us with the right intentions, so we follow him."

Q: You talked about staying engaged last year. I'm sure that helped a lot, but were there mental hurdles that you had to overcome?

Parker: "Oh yeah, it's never easy to be on the sideline. Even if you're in the season and on the sidelines, it's still never easy. So, you have this vision for yourself to come in and evolve every year, and it's just cut short. So obviously you be the teammate, the leader that you can and rally behind your teammates, but at the end of the day, you still want it to be you. We all want it to be us at some point."

Q: What have you seen in Kolton's [Miller] growth both on the field and also vocally in terms of being more of a guy in the locker room with a louder presence?

Parker: "Every year he's starting to speak up more. If you know Kolton [Miller], I wouldn't call him a church mouse, but he's not outspoken by any means. Like he's a nice guy, but he's just not the first one to break the ice in the room, that's his character. But he works hard every day, and even if he doesn’t say much -- if he doesn't lead by vocal, he leads by example. He's one of the first guys in the building, he's very attentive to his craft. So, he's a guy like myself and young guys can rally behind because we see what he does in the product every day."

The Silver and Black open the preseason by hosting the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Aug. 13, at 4 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. PDT.

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