The Las Vegas Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce spoke today for the last time prior to the Miami Dolphins game this weekend.
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00:10 >> [LAUGH]
00:14 >> Well done.
00:15 >> [LAUGH]
00:17 >> We saw that you guys released
00:19 Jacob Johnson.
00:20 I guess what was the thought process behind that?
00:23 >> Yeah, just obviously,
00:24 Yacht is very important to our team.
00:26 The energy and the tempo and everything he's done.
00:29 You know the way the league works.
00:30 It's day in, day out.
00:31 Things change, things come up, you gotta make decisions.
00:33 Tough roster decisions, but we'll be fine here.
00:38 And then hopefully something works out in the near future to deal with that.
00:42 >> I know Amit Robinson practices in an unlimited capacity.
00:46 Is there any optimism about his status this week?
00:49 >> Well, we're hoping so.
00:50 We're about to have practice here in a second.
00:51 We'll just have him walk through the meetings, get him out there,
00:53 see how he feels.
00:54 If he can go through today, then obviously we'll play him as a good football player.
00:57 >> Is that the same for Colton Miller as well?
00:59 >> Yep, he'll do the same thing.
01:00 Colton out there, and did pretty good.
01:02 We'll see if he'll have another good day, and we'll get back to back.
01:04 And we got our guy back.
01:05 >> Coach, it seems like over the last few weeks,
01:09 Malcolm Kuntz has been kind of taking that next step.
01:11 Can you talk about how good your defense can be if he does take that leap?
01:15 >> Yeah, I mean, really critical to the defense and to Max Crosby, right?
01:18 That's someone on the other side that can make some plays.
01:21 And you saw that last week.
01:22 He's a very dynamic, explosive player.
01:24 Who I think we figured out as a staff too, what he does well.
01:28 Not trying to put him in the pigeonhole, but
01:31 here's a guy that can really turn a corner and bend, and great with his hands, and
01:34 can finish around a quarterback.
01:35 So hopefully last week was just a little snippet of what's gonna come for him.
01:40 >> Antonio, you've been here for a couple years now.
01:42 Guys like Nate Hobbs, Treyvon Murd, and
01:44 Divine Diabla, who made their transition to the new defense last year.
01:49 And maybe it didn't go well all the time.
01:53 But the patience with them, and now they're turning it around.
01:56 What does that kind of say about them, A, and maybe the difficulty sometimes in
02:00 transitioning from a new defense to a, from one defense to another defense?
02:04 >> And then also those guys played as young players, right?
02:06 All those rookies either started or played in multiple games.
02:09 And then year two, I think they're all starters, right?
02:12 But what you're seeing is just the physical development and
02:15 not even that, just the mental development as far as the game slowing down for them.
02:19 I think I'll start with Diablo, transition from safety to linebacker.
02:24 Now he looks like a linebacker, he plays like a linebacker,
02:26 he moves like a linebacker, he talks like a linebacker.
02:28 I think with Treyvon, the ball-hawking skills that we saw in college and
02:32 everybody in the country saw, now it's come to fruition for us as well.
02:36 He's comfortable, tough guy, playing through injuries as well.
02:40 And then Nate Hobbs, I mean, he's different.
02:43 He's different.
02:44 You can put him in the slot, you can put him outside.
02:47 You can do a lot of things with Nate, he's a great blitzer, great tackle,
02:50 very physical football player.
02:52 I mean, that's a good nucleus to have there when you keep adding guys like Max and
02:55 Robert Spillane with a mixture of some vets.
02:58 It gives us a good opportunity to be a good defense going forward.
03:01 >> Speaking of Nate, we were in the locker room yesterday and
03:02 I was asking about the challenge of taking on Miami with their speed.
03:06 And we talked about them having track speed and he said, they're a football team.
03:10 They're just another players, right?
03:11 Is that the mindset and
03:12 approach that you want those players to have that it's just another team?
03:15 They dress the same way we do?
03:17 >> Yeah, different jersey colors, different location, different scenery,
03:19 but they do put their pants late one layer at a time, just like us.
03:23 They strap their helmets up just like us.
03:25 And when we get down on Sunday, they gotta play football just like us.
03:29 And we'll be fine, just like us.
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03:33 >> I know, so going back to the meat, something he's talked about is kind of
03:37 his career journey.
03:39 He was a very competent player in high school and college and got to the NFL and
03:42 realized it was sort of a different level of talent that he was going up against.
03:46 But he's sort of worked his way back up and
03:48 now he's coming in to play in a big basketball in his career.
03:50 What have you seen from him just in your two years being around him in terms of his
03:54 growth as a player?
03:55 >> First of all, extremely talented when the ball's in the air.
03:58 I mean, I think we've seen now two plays this season where he just goes up and
04:01 he's floating in the air, high pointing the ball.
04:04 Probably one of the more physical DBs as well.
04:06 I mean, you always see him punching the ball, coming up there and making tackles.
04:10 I don't wanna call it the little man complex, but
04:11 he walks around like he's 6'2", 220 sometimes, you know?
04:15 And he's very fearless.
04:17 He's a smart football player.
04:18 He's confident.
04:19 And I'm glad he's finally having success on the field,
04:21 because that's what we see in practice.
04:23 And then that's how you keep building on it.
04:25 And obviously, he got nicked up last week.
04:27 We saw what happened.
04:28 But to his credit, what is he doing?
04:30 He's fighting to get back out there.
04:31 And that's what kind of person he is.
04:33 >> How much does Colton Miller make that offensive line better and
04:36 how important will it be if you can't get him back for
04:38 that game against the Dolphins, against the front seven they have in the second year
04:41 they have?
04:41 >> Right, I mean, obviously, since I've been here and
04:43 even watched Colton when he was in college.
04:45 He's a guy that doesn't miss practice, doesn't miss plays, doesn't miss games.
04:49 So it's very critical.
04:50 I mean, he's obviously, he's a nucleus, he's a captain.
04:53 He's a leader. He's one of the best left tackles in football, in my opinion.
04:56 Obviously, we have him.
04:58 We're a better team.
04:59 If we don't, next man up mentality.
05:01 But you can just see the way he's working this week,
05:04 that he wants to be out there.
05:06 That first game against the Giants, the way he played, it was like, wow.
05:09 We get that every week from him, and
05:10 then that carries over to the rest of the offensive linemen.
05:13 We're a good group up front.
05:15 >> You just talk about maybe looking into the hip roll tackle as a former linebacker
05:21 and somebody that's transitioned from a lot of different roles and
05:24 a lot of different ways that you have, the technique of tackling.
05:28 Any thoughts on that?
05:29 >> Yeah, I think it's tough.
05:30 It's no different from when I played,
05:31 when Roy Williams had the horse to call him, tackling it.
05:33 That got banned.
05:34 This is the same thing.
05:35 You saw the injury last night.
05:36 This happened to us as well.
05:37 It ain't old school or new school, it's right school.
05:42 I'm always about facing the guy up.
05:44 I just have the best position to face a football player up.
05:47 When you jump on the side of him, we really don't teach that.
05:49 We try to teach get our head behind the shoulder, same foot, same shoulder.
05:53 And that's what we work on every day.
05:55 I think it was one of the situations that's tough because defenders,
05:59 most times you're chasing, you're coming from awkward positions.
06:01 And I think that is something the league, the owners, everybody's got to talk about
06:05 this off the field because when you see good football players like that go down,
06:08 that's not what we do.
06:10 >> When you were playing, did you need or
06:12 did you want some kind of speech before the game to get you to come out with your
06:15 hair on fire?
06:16 And is that a kind of approach that you take with your team as well?
06:20 >> No, I never minded.
06:20 I mean, obviously I played with Strayhand and some Bruce Smith and
06:24 Warren, Jesse Armstrong.
06:25 That's some guys that can really talk, and do a lot of talking,
06:27 and get you going on the prime as well.
06:28 But I was pretty much self motivated, but it was always good to see your leaders,
06:35 your best football players, your captains, the guys in the trenches talk.
06:38 That set the tone a little different.
06:41 We have that here.
06:41 I mean, it's amazing the amount of guys that speak up and talk to the team.
06:47 And the things that they say, AP says it my way.
06:50 Tay says it his way.
06:51 Josh Jacobs says it his way.
06:53 Spiel and Max.
06:54 So for us to have that chemistry and also that ability to speak to one another,
07:00 and speak freely, and to demand out of each other, and demand from yourself,
07:04 and showcase that, that's huge.
07:06 That's accountability.
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07:10 >> Good. >> All right, Josh, thanks.
07:10 >> All right, coach, thanks.
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