Raiders' McDaniels Midweek Press Conference
Las Vegas Raiders (1-2) Coach Josh McDaniels conducted his regular midweek press conference, and we have it all for you.
Transcript
00:00 (whooshing)
00:02 All right, so Charger Week.
00:07 So just getting into these guys,
00:11 obviously Brandon and Tom,
00:14 they've built a good football team.
00:17 And Coach Staley's done a really good job there
00:19 in three years.
00:20 You know, very talented team, no question about it.
00:25 All three phases, very aggressive.
00:28 They really do a lot of different things
00:30 that you gotta get ready for
00:32 as you're preparing for them during the course of the week,
00:35 I'd say in all three phases.
00:36 Got some really, I'd say, key players
00:40 that you need to know where they're at
00:43 and where they're lined up, and they can hurt you quick.
00:46 Whether that's Bosa and Mack on defense,
00:49 Samuel, JC, Derwin, James, Murray.
00:53 They got really a lot of guys
00:55 that create disruptive plays on defense,
00:57 and then obviously Herbert is,
01:00 I mean, look in any category you want,
01:03 he's really at or near the top of it in every situation.
01:07 So, has taken care of the ball.
01:10 Obviously got a big arm, can move it down the field.
01:13 They got a lot of big targets.
01:14 Drafted another one in the first round this year.
01:16 And Johnston, you know, Allen's obviously
01:20 one of the best players at his position
01:22 in the entire National Football League.
01:24 Eckler, you know, what can you say about Austin?
01:27 I mean, leads the league in touchdowns the last two years,
01:30 and catches the ball, blocks,
01:31 runs with it after the catch.
01:33 You know, punter, I mean,
01:36 it's one of the things that stands out
01:37 among all the things that they have
01:39 and that they do well.
01:40 The punter is one of the best, I mean, players, period.
01:45 I mean, what he does and how he changes field position
01:48 and the hang time, and DeAndre knows it firsthand
01:50 'cause he was there, but, you know,
01:52 averages 4.8 yards per punt, you know,
01:55 which the ball's up there forever,
01:56 and he had to do a great job of catching it
01:57 and taking care of the football.
01:59 It doesn't give him a chance to return.
02:01 So, a lot of challenges.
02:04 Excited, obviously, to go to L.A.
02:06 We usually have a great turnout there
02:07 and another division game on the road.
02:09 One of the challenges, you know,
02:13 part of the quarterback decision is out of your hands.
02:15 Yeah.
02:16 You know, it's up to the medical people,
02:17 but there was a chance that three quarterbacks could play.
02:20 You know, or did you have to get
02:22 three quarterbacks prepared to play?
02:23 What are the challenges from a coaching perspective
02:26 and coaching standpoint to that?
02:27 You know, you can only do what you can do.
02:30 So, you know, every meeting is productive.
02:34 You know, the guys that can't work --
02:35 I mean, this is really every week for us.
02:37 It just happens this week.
02:39 You know, it centers around the quarterback,
02:40 but, you know, you got to get everybody
02:43 ready to go in the meetings.
02:45 You know, we can incur an injury any time in practice, too,
02:48 so we kind of, you know, treat all our players
02:50 as if they're going to be ready to go and they got to play.
02:53 So, no different in that regard.
02:56 The two guys that haven't played yet
02:57 have done a tremendous amount of preparation
03:01 for the first three games, and that won't change this week.
03:03 So, to me, if they're preparing the right way,
03:05 it shouldn't -- you know, nothing should change
03:07 just because they may have a better chance
03:09 to potentially play
03:11 than they would have the first three games.
03:12 So, use all of our time wisely.
03:15 Walk through, meeting.
03:17 You know, Jimmy's here and available
03:19 to do all that stuff, too, in terms of the meetings.
03:22 And then we're just going to go through the week
03:24 and see where it all lies.
03:26 But, you know, we'll take --
03:28 give the guys reps in practice.
03:29 They usually get reps anyway, to some degree,
03:32 be a little bit more, obviously,
03:34 if Jimmy's not out there today.
03:36 So, you know, we'll just kind of take it one day at a time,
03:39 do the best we can,
03:40 prepare them as hard as we can for today,
03:42 and then we'll see what tomorrow brings.
03:44 Josh, it's obviously a pretty big gap in experience
03:46 between primary warrior,
03:47 however many years he's been in the league,
03:49 and then they go kind of as a rookie.
03:50 Yep.
03:51 How do you process when you have a player
03:53 that's way more experienced than the other
03:55 in terms of his opportunity?
03:57 You know, I think you just evaluate it,
03:59 you know, in real time.
04:01 You're right, experience is valuable.
04:05 And at the same time, you know,
04:08 we'll try to play the right person
04:10 based on what the situation is and how practice goes,
04:12 if that's what it comes to, you know?
04:14 So, I think everybody's going to get ready to go, you know?
04:20 And I think sometimes, you know, experience is a good thing.
04:22 It doesn't mean that it's going to determine
04:26 how it's going to go for one guy versus another.
04:29 I mean, there's a lot of guys that are -
04:31 don't have a lot of experience that can play well,
04:33 you know, because they're prepared,
04:34 and they do the right thing to get ready,
04:35 and they go out,
04:37 and ultimately what matters is how they perform,
04:38 not how long they've been in the NFL
04:40 or how many games they've played in or what have you.
04:43 So, both guys will get ready to go.
04:46 You know, both of them have an opportunity in practice,
04:48 and like I said, we'll see how Jimmy,
04:50 you know, progresses as we go through the week.
04:52 You've been in situations before where,
04:55 you know, somewhat similar,
04:57 and you had a veteran guy and a younger guy,
04:59 and history has shown that you have played the younger guy.
05:02 What is it that you need to see from the younger guy
05:05 or, you know, to feel comfortable
05:06 that he's going to be able to go out there
05:08 and handle the situation?
05:10 Just, I mean, you know, look, we're trying to play the guys
05:13 that will help us, you know, have the best chance to win.
05:15 So, you know, consistency of performance,
05:19 understanding the plan and his job and his role in it.
05:23 Again, that would be for any position.
05:26 You know, it could be for the center,
05:27 the guard, the receivers, you know, whatever it is.
05:31 You got to do a good job of making determinations on that,
05:34 you know, and, you know,
05:36 Curtis Bolton's got a little bit of a thing he's dealing with,
05:40 and so, you know, he's been our PP, you know,
05:42 which is not an unimportant job either.
05:43 So, again, we're trying to make decisions
05:46 about what, you know, what we think gives us
05:48 the best chance to be successful in each phase,
05:50 and that's what we'll do today, this week.
05:53 Obviously, he's grown up against his former team,
05:55 but how beneficial has De'Andre Carter been
05:57 since he's been in the locker room with special teams?
05:59 Yeah, you always kind of know, you know,
06:02 when you have players that played somewhere else,
06:05 you know, for a specific coaching staff,
06:07 you get a little bit of a, you know, an inside look at,
06:10 you know, maybe some of the things that they do
06:12 and why they're doing them or how they teach them
06:14 or what have you.
06:15 So, every team, we try to take as much information
06:19 as we can from those kind of players.
06:21 I'm sure they would do the same thing.
06:22 Every team, I think, does it.
06:24 So, De'Andre is very bright, so he understands,
06:27 you know, what he remembers from,
06:29 you know, his time there.
06:31 Obviously, each year is different.
06:32 Each team goes through a lot of changes.
06:34 There's different things that they could do,
06:36 and I've always kind of taken that with a grain of salt
06:38 because, you know, I mean,
06:40 they know we have guys on our team
06:42 that know some of their terminology and language,
06:44 and if you're just going to, you know,
06:46 we try to do the same thing.
06:47 You know, you might use the same word,
06:48 but it might mean something different,
06:49 you know, because you know that they,
06:51 you know, you know they know and all the rest of it.
06:53 So, you've got to be careful
06:54 about how much stock you put in that,
06:56 but, you know, he's given us a great,
06:59 just synopsis of what he recalls.
07:02 How practical is the potential of moving through the process
07:05 for Jimmy in a week?
07:06 I mean, is that something that can happen?
07:08 Sure.
07:09 And something that, you know, is possible?
07:10 Yeah. I mean, he's already moving through it.
07:12 So, you know, again, it doesn't mean
07:14 that we know what the ultimate end result will be,
07:19 but he's doing good so far, and, you know, again,
07:21 that's out of my, you know, jurisdiction.
07:26 So, we'll just find out, you know, when they tell us.
07:29 Would you need to see him practice this week,
07:31 or if it happened, like, Saturday, would that be?
07:34 We'd have to, you know, obviously make a decision.
07:36 I think every player is probably different in that regard.
07:39 So, just kind of see where we're at.
07:42 I don't want to speculate on a hypothetical on that,
07:45 but, I mean, each player would have to be,
07:47 you know, evaluated in that regard,
07:49 how comfortable they feel as part of that process, too.
07:51 It's not just, you know, how I feel or somebody else.
07:54 I mean, they would have to feel comfortable
07:56 with being able to play without practice,
07:58 which is part of the equation.
08:00 Just to be clear, Josh, he's still in the protocol.
08:02 Yes, sir.
08:03 Yes, sir.
08:04 So, he can do the meetings and things in-house?
08:06 Yes.
08:07 We can't do anything right now.
08:08 At this stage, we're not doing that today.
08:10 But, again, I mean, like I said, it's moving.
08:14 We'll see how fast it moves.
08:16 When you look at the offense, you've got a bunch of leaders
08:18 that kind of lead by example.
08:20 Do you have that guy that you feel like stands out
08:22 and kind of is that vocal leader as well?
08:25 We have a bunch of guys that honestly speak, you know,
08:30 and I think, you know,
08:32 there's a lot of different forms of leadership.
08:35 I mean, JJ's a very passionate, can be very vocal leader.
08:40 I think Devontae does a really good job of,
08:43 you know, addressing things that he feels need to be addressed.
08:46 And it's not always negative.
08:48 I think a lot of people attach leadership to adversity,
08:51 and that's definitely one part of it.
08:53 But I think there's also another element to it
08:57 where, you know, you've got to emphasize both sides,
09:00 you know, when it's going good and it's positive.
09:03 It's great leadership, you know.
09:04 And when you need something else,
09:06 then you've got to be able to know that.
09:07 So, I think those guys do a good job.
09:09 I think Jimmy does a good job.
09:11 I think Colton, you know, does a good job.
09:12 I think all our captains have really stepped up
09:14 in different ways.
09:15 Again, there's not two leaders that are the same.
09:18 I mean, I've never been around two guys
09:19 that are identical in that regard.
09:21 So, some guys will do it personally.
09:24 Some guys will do it in front of the group.
09:26 Some guys will do it in the moment at practice.
09:28 Some guys, you know, do it in the meeting room, you know.
09:30 But leadership takes on all forms.
09:34 Coach, you started this off, excuse me,
09:36 mentioning Brandon and Tom.
09:38 I guess how important is that fraternity to you guys
09:41 of people that have come from John Carroll,
09:42 and how tight are you guys all still in the league?
09:46 I'm tight with the guys that are here.
09:48 You know, I mean, look, there's some relationships
09:51 across the league for sure,
09:52 and I have a great deal of respect and admiration
09:55 for the two guys we're getting ready to compete with.
09:57 Over there, there's another guy, Tom,
09:58 I mean, there's other people besides those two that are there,
10:02 and they do a phenomenal job.
10:04 They're also great people.
10:06 You know, I think everybody takes a lot of pride in it.
10:09 You know, small school in Ohio, you know,
10:13 we all went there to try to play football
10:16 because, you know, we weren't getting offered scholarships
10:19 and full rides to go somewhere else,
10:21 and most of us just kept playing because we loved the game,
10:24 and we also wanted to try to find a place
10:26 where we could do it, where there was an opportunity
10:29 to get a great education and, you know,
10:31 put ourselves in a position to provide
10:33 for our families down the road.
10:34 I don't know that any of us went there thinking
10:36 we were going to go into the, you know,
10:38 National Football League or do anything like that.
10:41 I certainly didn't, you know, so I think there's a lot of pride
10:46 in what some of those guys have done.
10:48 I think they -- you know, we all try to give back
10:50 as best we can to the school and the university.
10:53 I think the university does a tremendous job
10:55 of staying connected to us.
10:57 So, I think to answer your question,
11:00 I think there's a lot of us that have strong feelings about,
11:03 you know, the guys that have been able to make it
11:05 and are very supportive of one another.
11:09 Josh, the -- obviously, there's been some changes
11:11 in the offseason,
11:12 pretty distracted just like every year.
11:14 How would you evaluate the newcomers,
11:15 how they've impacted the team so far?
11:19 I mean, there's a lot of --
11:20 I mean, obviously, there's a lot of changes on our team,
11:22 and I'd say that's the same --
11:25 most teams are in that same situation.
11:29 You know, I thought, obviously, we've gotten some guys
11:31 that just came here that became captains quickly,
11:34 which is, I think, a tribute to them and what they've done.
11:37 They've invested themselves in our program and our culture
11:40 and really made an impact on other people.
11:43 I think we're, you know, like we talked about the other day,
11:45 our young players that we've drafted are,
11:48 you know, coming along, and, you know,
11:50 they learn every day one way or the other.
11:52 They either do it right or we feel like we make some progress
11:56 because we learn from a mistake.
11:57 So, you know, I think all of that stuff is still fresh.
12:03 We're still in September.
12:04 You know, we want to just keep plugging along here.
12:07 I think we have a long way to go and a lot of things to go
12:10 through and a lot of improvements to make.
12:12 But I've been really impressed
12:14 with a lot of the veteran players we've added
12:17 and then the attitude and the approach by the young players
12:20 to try to, you know, acclimate to that style
12:23 and that work pace and everything else.
12:25 They've got a lot of good people to learn from.
12:28 Yeah, a couple minutes ago,
12:30 you were just talking about how each leader
12:32 you've been around has been different.
12:34 Can you just describe the leadership style of Colton
12:36 Miller and what he provides to the offensive line?
12:38 Consistent, tough, you know,
12:42 really approaches his job the right way,
12:44 wants to do it the right way, asks good questions,
12:48 practices hard.
12:51 You know, he doesn't -- you don't --
12:53 you don't -- sometimes you don't hear him a lot
12:55 because he's just kind of a softer-spoken guy
12:57 in that regard, but when you watch him play,
12:59 there's a different aggression to him.
13:04 And again, just -- it's just consistent,
13:06 you know, a consistent performance.
13:08 You know, he's been out there every day
13:11 just, you know, working at his craft,
13:13 working at his craft, puts out a really good product
13:16 and does his job at a really high level.
13:19 And I think there's a lot of people that see that
13:21 and try to emulate that with their own day.
13:26 Good to go? Okay. Thank you.