Raiders McDaniels Monday Press Conference
The Las Vegas Raiders Josh McDaniels stepped to the podium for his weekly press conference Monday after the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
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00:00 (air whooshing)
00:02 - As we talked about after the game,
00:06 I mean, after watching the film,
00:08 you know, opportunities there,
00:13 need to take advantage of them.
00:15 Obviously the biggest thing we have to do is stop,
00:18 you know, contributing to losing with mistakes
00:22 that we have control over.
00:23 And most of those center around turnovers and penalties.
00:27 And so, you know, we'll keep working at both areas
00:32 to try to play a turnover free game, a penalty free game.
00:35 When we do that, I think the result will be a lot,
00:41 lot more favorable for us.
00:43 So, you know, we're gonna address those things again
00:46 and continue to harp on them.
00:48 Thought the kicking game,
00:52 thought we made some really solid plays in the kicking game,
00:55 had some things that we have been working on,
00:58 got a decent return on the kickoff return from DeAndre,
01:01 got really good punting from AJ, some good coverage.
01:05 Thought we were physical
01:07 in terms of some of the coverage guys,
01:08 you know, Kanai Mauga showed up big time yesterday
01:12 in terms of his coverage.
01:13 So there was a lot, you know, in the kicking game
01:16 that I felt like we made some progress in,
01:18 you know, put them back there a number of times
01:22 relative to the field position part of the game.
01:26 Defensively, you know, I thought we,
01:28 we talked about this yesterday after the game,
01:30 you know, we missed a handful of tackles
01:32 that ended up in some extra yards
01:34 that, you know, if we can get those guys to the ground,
01:38 otherwise, you know, we would have,
01:39 I think we would have stopped them
01:40 a few other times as well.
01:43 But they really, I thought they really got a handle
01:45 on how the game was being played defensively as it went on,
01:48 played physical.
01:51 Again, take away a few of the missed tackles,
01:54 and I thought we really tried to kind of contain this group
01:57 as best we could.
01:58 I mean, it's a really, obviously,
01:59 really good quarterback and a good offense,
02:01 and to hold them where we did
02:04 and give ourselves an opportunity,
02:06 I give our defense a lot of credit.
02:07 And, you know, as we talked yesterday,
02:10 I thought Aiden, you know,
02:12 the game was a hair quick for him early.
02:14 You know, we didn't, we didn't do a good enough job
02:18 of protecting, you know, early in the game,
02:21 and then obviously tried to make some adjustments there.
02:23 He got a little bit more comfortable in the second half
02:25 and, you know, made some decent plays,
02:28 but ultimately not enough to win.
02:30 And, you know, we all have to do a better job.
02:34 So that's what we're going to focus on this week.
02:37 You guys made a decision on,
02:38 is Aiden going to get some more action
02:39 or is it Jimmy G if healthy?
02:41 Well, Jimmy would be, I mean, we're waiting to see,
02:43 and we're still in that same, under the same, you know,
02:46 conversation we were last week until he clears.
02:49 So he would have to clear first
02:51 and then we could talk about, you know, that.
02:53 But yeah, if he is, then that's what we're going to do.
02:57 Talk about the penalties.
02:58 I know they come in all, you know,
02:59 all different shapes and sizes.
03:01 There was Tillery, Jacobi Myers,
03:03 maybe it was questionable even.
03:04 I mean, is there a common theme in the penalties
03:06 that you can?
03:07 Not really.
03:08 I mean, you saw him.
03:10 I mean, it wasn't like we, it was,
03:11 it wasn't like it was seven off sides penalties
03:14 or seven offensive holding penalties
03:16 or anything like that.
03:17 You know, the, the Tillery play, like I said,
03:19 it was, it was a one step onto the white, you know?
03:22 So, you know, that is what it is.
03:25 You know, the, the Myers play was, you know,
03:28 was a tight coverage play.
03:29 There was a couple of guys back there.
03:31 I thought he made a really good play on the ball,
03:33 but, you know, they called some contact there
03:36 in that situation.
03:37 The spilling, you know, on the interception, you know,
03:41 that was kind of a, again, we understand the rule.
03:44 I think all our guys do that, you know, and try to,
03:47 it's the force, you know,
03:49 it's the force that you do it with that creates the,
03:51 the contact.
03:52 So, you know, it wasn't one penalty that kept showing up.
03:56 And, you know, we just, again,
03:58 the best thing we can do is keep educating,
04:00 keep coaching it, keep talking about it.
04:02 I think our guys, they want to play penalty free.
04:04 They don't want to go out there
04:06 and they're not trying to commit penalties.
04:07 I know that.
04:08 So we just got to make better decisions
04:10 in certain situations.
04:11 And, you know, there's going to be a few every week
04:14 where it might be a bang, bang play
04:15 and you're, you're trying to do the right thing,
04:17 but, you know, you get called and I understand those.
04:20 So we'll continue to coach off of what we saw.
04:23 - I see the video of Tiller.
04:25 - Go ahead.
04:26 - When you see the video of Tiller,
04:28 - Yeah.
04:29 - Do you think he's worth ejecting?
04:30 Do you think, do you talk to him?
04:32 - That's not my call, you know, so I understand the penalty.
04:36 I, you know, I don't make the decision on the ejection.
04:38 So, you know, that's, that's for them to decide.
04:42 - Do you have a talk with them, Jerry,
04:44 about what the play about?
04:45 - Yeah, I talked to them about it.
04:47 I mean, we, we specifically discussed it.
04:49 I mean, I thought he was making a great effort
04:51 to get over there.
04:52 And as we saw later on, you know, Herbert, you know,
04:55 he's a big guy that, you know,
04:56 when he chooses to keep running and go down the sideline
04:59 and all the rest of it,
05:00 he can actually make some yards, you know,
05:01 and is a problem when he has the ball in his hand.
05:03 So I give Jerry, you know, credit for the effort.
05:07 We just, at that point, you just, it's such a, you know,
05:10 the burden's on the defense, you know what I mean?
05:11 And so if the player steps into the white,
05:14 you got to not hit him, you know?
05:15 So that's always a potential, you know,
05:20 to come up when you're, when the runner is on the sideline
05:23 and we just have to pull off at the last second
05:25 and not hit him, not make contact.
05:28 - You mentioned the Jacoby OPI,
05:29 there was the crackback block too.
05:32 That wasn't clear on it.
05:34 Did you see the play?
05:36 - I didn't, I just say that I didn't think
05:38 it was a illegal crackback.
05:39 I didn't, I didn't understand that part of it,
05:42 but I'm not, again, you know,
05:44 I thought we were in the front, you know what I mean?
05:46 That's the best I can say.
05:47 I thought we were in the front.
05:48 We always obviously coach them to be in the front.
05:51 I thought he did a good job of getting it.
05:52 The defender actually came to make contact with us as well.
05:56 So I don't know, I thought it was two guys
05:59 playing physical and trying to do the right thing.
06:02 - In terms of that Tillery hit,
06:03 obviously, you know, a penalty is never a good thing,
06:05 but do you think it helped the team out in any kind of way?
06:07 Did they, you know, kind of gather around it at all?
06:10 - I'm not going to, I wouldn't say that.
06:11 I mean, I thought, I thought we played hard the entire day.
06:14 I thought we kept playing no matter what happened.
06:18 You know, I don't, I don't give,
06:19 I wouldn't say that one way or the other off that play.
06:23 - How does the extra day, Josh,
06:24 with the next game not being till Monday night?
06:26 - Yeah.
06:26 - How does that affect your schedule and your preparation?
06:28 - Yeah, I think we're going to, you know,
06:30 we've talked about this in the, in the off season,
06:32 honestly, Paul was, you know,
06:34 having the late bye after 12 games, you know,
06:38 we were going to try to work in extra days of, you know,
06:43 rest, recovery, et cetera, as we could.
06:46 So we'll, we'll end up practicing three times this week,
06:50 not four, obviously we would have the ability to do four,
06:53 but we're not going to do that.
06:55 We'll use that fourth day to, you know,
06:57 do something productive for our guys
06:59 relative to their body, their recovery.
07:01 And then we'll get a little bit into Green Bay,
07:04 but you know, we'll try to do that.
07:06 We have a couple of Monday nighters in the next,
07:08 well, whatever month it is, I think.
07:10 So we're going to try to make sure we're smart
07:13 and not overdo it.
07:14 And obviously then you have the six day week
07:16 coming behind that.
07:17 So, you know, we, we,
07:19 we talked a lot about it in the off season,
07:21 try to set it up this way so we can try to function the
07:24 right way, get the work in we need to get in,
07:27 but also try to build in a little extra rest as we go.
07:30 - How's DePonte feeling after that hit?
07:32 - Oh man, I, again, I say the same thing.
07:36 He's, he's a warrior, you know,
07:38 and to come back in and play the way that he did after that,
07:43 you know, I give him obviously all the credit in the world,
07:47 you know, it's a tough son of a gun
07:48 and what a great team player, you know,
07:52 so I haven't seen him yet this morning.
07:54 I'm sure he'll be a little sore, but, you know,
07:57 remarkable in terms of being able to come back
07:59 and do what he did.
08:00 - Speaking of team players,
08:01 Josh Jacobs had a heck of a day,
08:03 more receiving even than rushing,
08:04 but as he started to come into form
08:06 from what you're seeing.
08:06 - Yeah, I mean, you know, he's, he's a, he is who he is,
08:10 you know, and so, you know, however he gets the ball,
08:14 it's a good play for us, you know,
08:15 in terms of giving him an opportunity.
08:17 So, Aiden found him a number of times in the passing game,
08:20 you know, I thought he ran hard,
08:23 made some really good runs, you know,
08:24 in critical situations, the touchdown on fourth and one,
08:28 you know, had some other really good solid runs
08:31 in between the tackles too.
08:32 So, you know, the more we can give him the ball,
08:35 the more we can get him started in space,
08:38 the better, the better we are.
08:40 So, you know, I thought he did a great job.
08:42 - You mentioned depth of the game.
08:43 He's just tired of losing, right?
08:44 He just, he has that mentality of,
08:46 I'd rather hate losing more than even enjoy winning.
08:49 Is that the kind of mentality that you want to see?
08:51 - I think everybody's feeling that, like, you know,
08:53 I don't, I don't think anybody really cares
08:55 about individual statistics right now.
08:57 There's one statistic we care about now
08:59 and we got to do more things.
09:01 Again, we've talked about this a lot, you know,
09:04 until you can stop from losing, it's hard to win, you know?
09:06 And so the things that contributed to losing,
09:09 we got to stop, you know, doing them, you know,
09:10 and taking care of the football offensively,
09:13 penalties, you know, in any phase of the game,
09:15 we just, we have to play a cleaner version of football.
09:18 And if we do, I think the formula will be there, you know,
09:21 and things will seem like they're a little easier for us,
09:23 not easy in terms of who we're playing, but, you know,
09:26 we make the game hard sometimes, you know,
09:28 second and 20 and third and long and those kinds of things,
09:32 you know, just giving free yards to the opponent, you know,
09:35 and then, you know, putting the defense in bad positions,
09:38 you know, turning the ball over in our own end
09:40 and having to play sudden change defense
09:42 too many times this season.
09:43 So again, that's going to be the goal, you know,
09:46 it's to not turn the ball over
09:48 and to try to play as penalty free as we can
09:50 and see if that formula doesn't result in the game
09:54 seeming a little simpler than what it seems right now.
09:56 - Do you have any thoughts?
09:58 - Nothing right now. No, I don't.
10:00 - You talk about making the game harder,
10:01 so Devontae said that yesterday,
10:03 almost waiting to be in desperation mode
10:05 and then attacking, it seems like the last couple weeks,
10:08 have you felt the players have felt that way?
10:10 - I don't. I mean, I don't think
10:12 we're not trying to play aggressively.
10:15 I just, I understand the comment, you know,
10:17 and I just, honestly, I think it's all week,
10:19 you know what I mean?
10:20 We all got to do it all week long, you know,
10:22 we got to feel like that right now about the Packers,
10:24 not wait till, you know, Sunday or Monday
10:27 to start turning that on.
10:28 So, no, like I said, I, you know,
10:32 our guys feel how they feel, you know,
10:34 and they want to win.
10:34 And certainly when you fall behind in this league,
10:38 you start scrambling, scrapping,
10:39 and trying to do everything you can to get back into it.
10:41 And, you know, and I credit our guys fight for that.
10:46 You know, we just want to, we want to try to do that,
10:48 you know, before we fall into that position, you know,
10:51 and, you know, we've gotten ahead in most games this year,
10:54 not yesterday, but, you know,
10:57 we just got to, we got to be able to start the game
10:59 and play for 60 minutes the right way.
11:00 And if we do, we've seen stretches
11:02 where we've been pretty competitive
11:04 against everybody we've played.
11:06 And what we need to do is do it, you know,
11:08 for the entirety of the game and see what the outcome is,
11:11 and then, you know, see if we can duplicate that.
11:13 Coach, how do you stress a sense of urgency in the locker room
11:16 without necessarily getting too carried away
11:18 since it's so early in the season?
11:20 Just, I mean, we're going to stay the same.
11:22 I mean, you know, we correct things when we win,
11:25 we correct things when we lose.
11:27 We all understand the situation.
11:28 You know, you go into every season,
11:31 there's going to be some peaks and valleys,
11:32 and, you know, unfortunately, we've started,
11:35 and, you know, now we've lost a couple close ones
11:37 here in a row, and, you know,
11:39 we're going to need to pick ourselves up and get going.
11:41 You know what I mean? There's no shortcut to it.
11:43 Every man's got to do the work.
11:45 We've got to put it in and get ready to go,
11:47 and no feeling sorry for ourselves or anything like that.
11:50 So, we'll address the things we need to address,
11:52 correct the things we need to correct.
11:54 I think they'll be very accountable to it.
11:56 They already have been. I already seen that today,
11:57 and so, you know, that'll be our attitude going forward.
12:01 Did the defense build off of what they were able to do
12:03 in the second half?
12:05 I mean, I think, you know,
12:06 honestly, the defense has done a decent job.
12:09 Again, there's some things, there's some plays here
12:11 and there in the last two weeks where you'd say,
12:14 "Man, we got to, you know,
12:15 we want to shore that up a little bit,"
12:16 but I think we've tried to play physical.
12:20 We've tried to, you know,
12:22 tried to contain the running game.
12:24 You know, we've tried to hit the quarterback.
12:26 We've tried to, you know, get on the receivers a little tighter.
12:29 You know, I think the last two games
12:30 have really been a positive step for us defensively.
12:35 You know, again, we got to do more to help them,
12:37 you know, and less to put them in a bad situation,
12:42 given the offense, the ball
12:44 on the other side of the 50-yard line.
12:45 So, I really like the way that they're playing.
12:49 You know, they'll shore up some things.
12:51 We know we got a few things we need to fix here,
12:53 but I really like the way that they're attempting to do things.
12:58 That's good.
12:59 Good. Thanks a lot.