Las Vegas Raiders OC Mick Lombardi from Training Camp

HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders have opened their 2023 NFL Training Camp, and Offensive Coordinator Mick Lombardi took to the podium to address the media.

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

Offensive Coordinator Mick Lombardi

Q: Just watching today, it seemed a little bit of an inefficient day for Jimmy Garoppolo. Are we seeing some of the rust maybe of a guy who hasn't played football for a while?

Coach Lombardi: "I think it's just practice from everybody. Today was third down day, so we worked all situations in third down, worked two-minute. So, a lot of new stuff. Everybody on the team, whether it's offense, defense, special teams is going through that phase in camp where every day is a different day and every day is a learning experience. You're going to make some mistakes and you're going to learn from them and help you to get better the next day. So, whether it's quarterback, receivers, tight ends, running back, fullback, they're all in the same boat and everybody makes a mistake here and there. We've just got to coach it and correct it and move on and try to get better tomorrow."

Q: When you're not in pads it's more almost rehearsal. Do you not really judge a whole lot until pads come on?

Coach Lombardi: "No, I mean they were competing out there today with no pads. I mean, they were working hard, they were competing. And again, communication and assignment is a huge thing for us with no pads, obviously in the technique. So, you go out there every day and you try to focus on the technique. You can see the technique, you can see the pad level, you can see the explosion. All those things can be seen, and hopefully it translates to the pads. But overall, I mean you can see them compete and you can see them working hard. Every day is an evaluation process. Whether that's a just a meeting, everything is part of the evaluation process, and the pads are a great benefit to that. We get to see the physicality tomorrow and the next day, but no, every day is, I think, equal."

Q: Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow said last week that he felt he let the team down last year. What have you seen that's different from him this camp so far?

Coach Lombardi: "Hunter is working hard just like the whole receiver room. I think his mindset overall has been really good, been positive, taking the coaching, and really just trying to get better every day, just like the whole room. The receiver room has done a great job with that with Coach Edgar [Bennett], and they're working hard, taking the coaching points and working towards becoming better. And I think that you see that every day at practice."

Q: Obviously it's fairly unique that guys have worked in the system in Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer. But when you have turnover in the entire quarterback room, what kind of issues does that present?

Coach Lombardi: "I mean, I don't think there's really many issues that come from it. I think you just start every day, every year with a -- you start to build a foundation. Build a foundation of: 'Hey, we're going to start to do this, tweak some things and then go from there.' I think just building a foundation with those guys, and obviously yes, you're right if you have a returning player for any position, whether that's halfback, receiver or tight end, they're going to have some recall. But overall, every year you have to go back over the basics whether you're Davante Adams or some other player that's new to the team. You're going to have to go back over the foundation and make sure they have all the coaching points and anything you've changed from the self scout from the offseason."

Q: You've been on a lot of good football teams, but I'm curious, this is arguably the deepest wide receiver room in the NFL. When you look around that room and what everyone offers, is this kind of an offensive coordinators dream come true?

Coach Lombardi: "First of all, I think that receiver room works extremely hard, which makes coaching very, very enjoyable. Every meeting they have them in there, they have their notebooks out, they're attentive, they're listening, and I think that's really at the end of the day what you strive for as a coach. The whole entire unit is pretty much that way, which is great. Their attention is great, their attention to detail is what you want it to be. And I think as a as a coach, speaking of the unit, it's very enjoyable to go in there in the meeting room every day and on the practice field because they want to get better."

Q: There's a couple of your rookies that you drafted that were starting to get a couple of reps and look pretty good in the vertical game, Michael Mayer and Tre Tucker. What have you seen from them that you've liked so far?

Coach Lombardi: "I mean Michael [Mayer], obviously he made a couple plays today, which is good to see in the passing game. Again, hopefully, he can translate that to the running game and stuff like that tomorrow. And then Tre Tucker, first of all no one I think has all the answers when they come into the league, first of all. And it's tough as a rookie, and I think those guys have done a good job of coming in here and just taking the coaching, especially the young linemen as well. And they really were working hard to kind of, I would say, just grow. And you hope to see that in practice with a young player, and I think you see that kind of expand throughout them, and it's very, very fun to see with any young player at any position."

Q: Last year was your first as a coordinator, obviously. What have you kind of learned from that experience that's helping you coming into year two?

Coach Lombardi: "I think just everything. You guys have I think asked me that before in the spring and stuff like that. I think overall, just anything you do in life, you learn from your mistakes and you learn from just trials and all those type of things. 'Hey, I'm going to do this a little bit differently, because I didn't like how I did before.' Or, 'I was doing that right, that felt really good.' Just overall, I think everything. You expect everything, you know everything a little better. You know how to script practice, you know how to go through that, you know how to talk to the players, hold a the team meeting, all that kind of stuff and you take notes and try to improve. I think that's the best part about coaching. Coaches can coach each other, which is great. You use people as resources and you look to get better and deliver something the right way to players. Because at the end of the day that's what you want to do as a coach. You want to do deliver the message to the players that helps them become effective on the field, and whatever best way possible that is - there's no right or wrong, you just want to make sure it's best for them, because each room is different and each team is different. So you try and formulate that to the team you have."

Q: What have you seen from Aidan O'Connell's development? How much does it help to have guys like Brian Hoyer and Jimmy Garoppolo around?

Coach Lombardi: "Look, Brian [Hoyer] has been in the league a long time, been in the system a long time. And then Jimmy [Garoppolo] has experienced and a lot of playing experience both in this offense and other ones. I think Aidan is just like the other two guys you asked about before, it's just becoming a sponge and trying to play fast and play NFL quarterback and learn the offense. But again, they have the same installations, but there are resources for Aidan, which is great, and I think the time he spent on it has been coming to fruition in practice. But overall, I think whenever you have veteran quarterbacks in the room, they have little nuggets to kind of give the young guys, which is great, that you can't offer as a coach. As a quarterback coach, you can tell them the reads and all that stuff and give them reminders, but sometimes players have a little different tidbits to give each other, which that's great too. Whether it's receiver, back, tight ends, those veteran guys: 'Hey, try this. Do this.' The veterans really take pride in doing that with each other, which is really fun to see whether it's the receivers or tight ends. I mean, and as a coach too, you can ask a player: 'Hey, what do you think about this? Have you tried this before?' And they may have good or bad experiences from it, and that's the same thing with quarterback. So, overall it's been great."

Q: Jimmy Garoppolo has to keep his focus, he's the man it's his job. So, this is not a slam on Jimmy in the least bit, but in New England Brian [Hoyer] was able to be a backup but also a coach to Mac Jones. How much does it help to have him where he's sitting next to Aidan O'Connell showing him things, just so Aidan is hearing it from two places, a coach and a player?

Coach Lombardi: "Yeah, all in the meeting room in there, it's very, it's very -- I would say -- just open, and all those guys are talking back and forth and giving reminders and tips. There's no egos in there at all, which is the best part about. Brian [Hoyer] doesn't have an ego, Jimmy [Garoppolo] doesn't have an ego, and Aidan [O'Connell] is just a sponge. So, Coach Bo [Hardegree] does a great job with those guys, and they go over everything in detail just like every position group, but I think just overall, having that communication between the whole room is great, whether it's Brian or Jimmy to Aidan."

Q: Last year you kind of led the way with the tight end room since you guys didn't have a specific coach for it. Jerry Schuplinski taking over that position, what have you seen from him?

Coach Lombardi: "Yeah, Jerry [Schuplinski] is a great person and fits in really well with the staff and works really hard. Like everybody else in the staff, I can't speak highly enough of the staff that we have in terms of trying to get their position out there. Jerry just is a really detailed coach. Attention to detail is important to him. Players respect him because of what he demands from them every day. And I trust a lot to Jerry to get what we need to get the tight end room to do, because he puts a lot of time and effort into and they see that."

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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