Raiders K Daniel Carlson from Training Camp
The 2023 NFL Training Camp for the Las Vegas Raiders is underway, and today K Daniel Carlson spoke, and we have his entire comments for you.
Transcript
00:00 [swoosh]
00:02 Fire away, when ready.
00:14 How was your off season?
00:16 Did you work on some areas you focused on?
00:18 Yeah, I mean, we're kind of obviously wrapping up
00:22 that part of, at least for us, training,
00:25 me, AJ, and even Bob, too.
00:27 Just, you know, there's a lot of technical training
00:30 that goes into it.
00:31 I think now is kind of the time where you transition
00:33 into, hey, like, get away from the technique,
00:36 and it's about making kicks, hitting good punts,
00:38 snapping good balls.
00:40 And so, yeah, we trained at different places
00:44 around the country with different coaches and stuff,
00:45 just fine-tuning those last-minute adjustments,
00:48 and then now it's time to, you know,
00:50 become a gamer, I guess.
00:52 What advice did you give to your brother
00:56 for the rest of the season?
00:57 I mean, hey, he's his own kicker.
00:59 I mean, we're different in a lot of ways, personality-wise.
01:03 He looks identical to me.
01:04 He's about 6'5" and, you know, probably weighs about the same.
01:07 I'm probably more muscular than him, though.
01:10 But, I mean, it's different coming from college
01:13 to the NFL, for sure.
01:15 Obviously, I'm familiar with some of those coaches
01:17 up there in Green Bay,
01:18 so I'm excited for his opportunities.
01:21 You know, he's going to have to compete,
01:23 especially as a rookie, prove himself
01:24 in those preseason games and camp and stuff.
01:27 But so far, he's done well, so I'm excited to pull for him
01:31 and cheer for him until we play him.
01:32 Daniel, I'm not asking for trade secrets,
01:35 but as the rules have changed, have you guys talked?
01:38 Have you guys formulated a plan?
01:40 Again, not asking what the plan is,
01:41 but how you're going to attack the new rules.
01:44 Yeah, I mean, we'll see what happens and shakes out.
01:47 I mean, if teams decide to start throwing up
01:49 fair catches more often than not,
01:51 but, I mean, we're not going to make too many adjustments,
01:55 I don't think, from our point of view.
01:56 You know, if they decide to throw a fair catch,
01:58 there's nothing we can do about that,
02:01 you know, to a certain extent.
02:02 So we're going to control what we can,
02:04 just like in any other area.
02:06 And, you know, if the other team decides to throw up
02:09 a fair catch and a kickoff, that is what it is.
02:11 But we're going to control what we can
02:14 and try and dominate in the areas that we can.
02:18 You know, it's AJ that takes the snap from the snapper,
02:20 but is there any adjustment that you have to make as a kicker
02:22 in terms of pace or timing, anything like that?
02:24 I think it's just, you know, getting used
02:26 to the whole operation, obviously with Jacob.
02:30 And, you know, I think it's just,
02:31 hey, I've had thousands of reps with Trent and AJ.
02:34 Now it's, hey, we need to get thousands of reps together.
02:37 And so, especially during camp,
02:38 we consistently get them, which is nice.
02:40 And, I mean, we've done that during OTAs
02:42 outside of the facility on our own,
02:44 you know, different high school fields and stuff.
02:46 So it's just getting comfortable with our operation.
02:50 I mean, because a kick's got to be --
02:53 by the time Jacob snaps it to the time I kick it
02:55 for a field goal, it's about 1.3 seconds.
02:58 So, I mean, there's not much margin for error.
03:01 So, you know, you have to get really comfortable.
03:03 I'm only able to see it for, you know,
03:05 half a second before I kick it, just about.
03:07 So, you know, it's just about getting thousands
03:10 and thousands of reps so that we're really comfortable
03:12 going into the season.
03:14 You did a lot of big kicks in your day.
03:16 Anything in training camp you do to kind of get ready
03:18 for the mental side and the pressure moments?
03:20 Yeah.
03:22 Excuse me.
03:23 I think, you know, training camp's a big part of that.
03:26 Preseason games are always huge for me.
03:28 I really enjoy playing in them, just getting that feel for,
03:31 you know, being in that atmosphere again,
03:34 like a game-day atmosphere, because, I mean,
03:36 it's a long time since we played our last game.
03:38 So I think trying to get in that mindset of,
03:41 you know, those pressure situations,
03:43 you can try and do it in practice,
03:45 but I think as you get on in your career,
03:47 it's a little harder to, you know, put yourself in that
03:50 until you get into an actual game in the stadium
03:52 with a crowd and stuff.
03:54 But, I mean, that's what's always the most fun.
03:57 And so you try and put yourself in those situations,
03:59 coaches put you in that situation where, you know,
04:02 if you miss a kick, you might have to run,
04:03 stuff like that later on in training camp,
04:06 just to, you know, so that once you're --
04:08 just like any other position,
04:10 once you actually get to the game, it's easy then,
04:11 hopefully.
04:13 Roman, do you want to be, like, locked in at this point of camp,
04:16 or do you want to ramp up to being mentally sharp?
04:18 Yeah, that's a great question.
04:20 I think over the years,
04:22 there's a balance of, like, don't peak too early.
04:25 I think there's, you know, I've had points in my career
04:29 where I've come into camp kicking my best,
04:32 and then by the end of the season,
04:33 I feel worn out almost.
04:35 So I think there's a balance, and I try and, you know,
04:38 limit my offseason because the tendency
04:40 is to overwork in the offseason almost.
04:42 And so I think we try and be careful about,
04:45 hey, make sure you take a month off,
04:48 completely reset, get your mind --
04:50 because I think the mental strain is the hardest for me.
04:53 And so then, you know, just figuring out
04:55 kind of what that timeline looks like
04:57 for you to start peaking week one
05:00 and then, you know, hopefully maintaining that
05:01 or continuing to peak all the way through,
05:04 obviously, playoffs would be the goal
05:06 to play your best ball during that time.
05:08 Daniel, how would you evaluate the way the franchise
05:11 has connected with the host community
05:13 since you came to the team in here?
05:16 Yeah.
05:17 So you have a personal connection, too,
05:19 with your class as well.
05:20 I'm just kind of curious, how would you rate
05:22 how the team is making roots here in this new market?
05:26 Yeah. I mean, I think it was interesting
05:29 when we showed up, obviously.
05:30 It was COVID and all that was going on.
05:32 So it was tough.
05:34 It was tough all across the city, all across the world,
05:38 but especially Las Vegas being the city,
05:40 you know, the entertainment business that it is.
05:41 I feel like, you know, we missed a little of that,
05:44 and I think we're still trying to get better.
05:46 But, I mean, it's an unbelievable city.
05:49 My family and I have loved living here.
05:51 All the team, all the guys, all the coaches,
05:53 we just love this city.
05:55 We love the game-day atmosphere,
05:56 and we really look forward to, you know,
05:58 playing here every Sunday that we get to
06:01 or Monday night, Thursday night, whatever it may be
06:04 because there's just -- there's so much more to Vegas,
06:07 and it is cool to have that entertainment business side
06:11 that people from the outside might see,
06:12 but there's so much more to living here.
06:14 And like I said, my family and I,
06:16 we've really grown to love it
06:18 and look forward to continuing
06:20 to get connected to the community.
06:22 Growing up, was your brother
06:23 always kind of following in your footsteps?
06:27 Yeah, I mean, or I was beating him up.
06:29 It was, you know, two brothers.
06:32 I was the middle one, so, you know,
06:34 just like any other brothers.
06:35 But we all played soccer, and, yeah,
06:38 once I transitioned to football,
06:40 that's when he became interested,
06:42 and, you know, he'd kick on the sideline
06:44 at my football games and stuff, and same thing.
06:47 He thought he was going to be a soccer player,
06:48 and then I guess we weren't good enough
06:51 and fell into football, so it worked out.
06:53 But it'll be fun to see what happens with him
06:55 and his career and, yeah,
06:57 hopefully get to play against them week five.
07:00 You guys compete often in the offseason?
07:02 Yeah, yeah, so, yeah, I want to, you know,
07:04 like I mentioned earlier, in the offseason,
07:07 in the summertime, we train different places,
07:09 go with different coaches, and so we do that, link up.
07:13 I went to Auburn and met up with him
07:15 and kicked a few days with him as well,
07:17 just to, you know, compete, learn from each other,
07:20 push each other, and then, you know,
07:23 now it's just cheering him on
07:24 except when we're playing him.
07:26 Was Jacob prepared for what he was walking into
07:29 in the special teams room?
07:31 Yeah, I mean, I think, obviously,
07:32 we were familiar playing against him for a few years.
07:35 I mean, like the conversations, more the --
07:37 The personality, I mean,
07:38 I don't know how you can prepare for AJ,
07:40 but, yeah, I mean, he's --
07:43 It's been fun getting to know him,
07:44 and, you know, obviously, camps now,
07:45 like, we spend 12-plus hours a day with each other,
07:50 you know, so it's --
07:51 You get to know someone really quick,
07:52 so I think he's getting a good feel
07:54 for what me and AJ are like.
07:56 Speaking of soccer, I caught the tail end of,
07:59 I think, a drill where maybe the coaches
08:01 were kicking a soccer ball and got --
08:02 Yeah. Trying to block it.
08:03 Is that what I saw? Yeah, just a block drill.
08:05 Soccer ball is a little less likely to break a finger
08:07 or something, I think, is what we're using that for,
08:10 so, yeah.
08:13 All right. Thanks.
08:14 Awesome. Thank you.
08:15 Appreciate it.