WATCH: Raiders Rising Star Pola-Mao Speaks From Locker Room

The Las Vegas Raiders might have a rising star in safety Isaiah Pola-Mao. He recent spoke from the locker room.

Sep 29, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders safety Isaiah Pola-Mao (20) celebrates after getting a sack against the Cleveland Browns during the third quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

HENDERSON, Nevada -- The Las Vegas Raiders have had few bright spots this season.

However, young safety Isaiah Pola-Mao, thrown into the fire because of injuries, has made a difference on the field. Pola-Mao spoke from the locker room ahead of a Week 17 tilt with the New Orleans Saints, and we have the full video right here:

Q: There's been a lot of talk about Isaiah Pola-Mao and kind of a breakout game, but he's been performing all year. What have you seen from him that changed in his development?

Coach Graham: "Same thing that happened his rookie year when he got a chance to get in there, he makes plays. So that comes from his diligent work, started off with him learning how to play in this league on special teams, correcting some of the stuff we saw from college that he needed to get corrected, his tackling. He's done a good job with that. And then when he gets his opportunities, he makes the most of it. And again, we talk about guys you're proud of in terms of their growth and development, and he's one of them. Started under Chris Ash working with him before. I talked about time on special teams, and then GA [Gerald Alexander] has taken him, and it's just really grown. And he took the most of the opportunity from an injury situation we had with [Marcus] Epps, and just proud of him. He goes out there and he tries to do what we ask him to do."

Q: It's not the first time you've had to do it this year, but obviously preparing for multiple quarterbacks that could play. Can you just talk about the challenge that comes with that and also evaluating the three that you could potentially face this Sunday?

Coach Graham: "The answer is never going to change. We always get ready for the quarterbacks. But okay, I'll make this one a little better. Okay, so three quarterbacks, getting ready for those guys, all have different toolsets. So, for me as the coordinator, I got to look at all of them. So, the coaching staff, we got to just be prepared because somebody could get hurt in the game. So, you got to be ready for that. And then for us, leading into this game, obviously there's a lot of gray we're dealing with. But their scheme's their scheme. We have to have an idea if we have to adjust based on who they put out there. We'll have more information with the injury reports and things of that nature. And then from there, in terms of how we allocate the time and practice if there is a change in scheme, I got to take an educated guess as the defensive coordinator in terms of what we're going to practice and be ready to adjust. But I think they all have three specific toolsets that provide challenges for us as a defense. But more importantly, it comes back to how they play collectively. I think Klint Kubiak does a great job. I have nightmares of going against his pops. I wasn't a coordinator, but as a position coach, I mean, his pops was one of the best to ever do it in my opinion, he's nice with it. That's what I told the players. I said, 'He's nice with it.' I said 'The football runs deep in that family. The football is good in that family.' So, that's a little Star Wars reference in terms of the force, the force is strong with that Kubiak family, I'll tell you that much in terms of offensive football."

Q: When you play a team coming off the offensive performance the Saints had, not having much success on Monday, is there a different mindset? Like you know they're going to be hungry and know they're going to be kind of angry and ready to go?

Coach Graham: "I mean, they're at home. It's the holidays. I'm sure they have family in town. I mean, they're professionals, but they're going to be hungry. There's a lot of veterans on that team defensively. The interim head coach right now [Darren] Rizzi, he's done such a good job with the special teams over his career. He's doing a good job as an interim head coach. I expect them to be ready to go. And that building is one of the hardest places to play. Keep in mind, they're all on vacation and it's going to be a tough place to play. So, I'm looking forward to the challenge. I'm sure the players are, but it's the NFL. These guys know they're only guaranteed 17 opportunities to play this game. So, they'll be ready to go.”

Q: What have you noticed on the growth of Chris Olave as a wide receiver from his rookie year to where he's become now?

Coach Graham: "I mean, again, that's another school – I believe Ohio State, correct, yeah. I mean, it's no different from when I talked about last week with LSU. LSU, Ohio State, these receivers they have in college. I mean, I saw the freshmen from Ohio State in the playoff game. I mean, he's pretty good. And then these guys that come to the league, there's just a lot of growth in terms of their skill set. One thing that stands out to me is just how competitive they all are. Again, it's the same thing that I talked about with LSU. So, you see a guy who's explosive, who can make plays, make tough catches. So, we'll see if he's ready to go and we'll have to be prepared for him."

Q: I just wanted to ask you, in terms of making these adjustments within the game, we've seen a few players these past couple of games where they've kind of lost track of their player because they're trying to make a separate play. How do you make those adjustments? Or how do you make sure that they make the right decision in those certain moments?

Coach Graham: "It's my job, along with the coaches, to know our players. We've got to know the guys on our roster the best, like that's what we have to know first and foremost. So, from there, we develop the plans during the week, trying to put those guys in the best position to take advantage of what they do best. So, that's my job. That's my job, along with calling the game during the during the game. So, for me, I'm always thinking about, 'Okay, where to put this player, where to put this player, to put them in the best spot.' And then in terms of if there's ever mental errors or anything like that, again, a lot of times it falls on me in terms of, I didn't do a good enough job of explaining something during the week. So, what we try to do is combat that the next week, learn from those mistakes and make sure that we’re all on the same page. But all that stuff falls on me in terms of when I'm trying to orchestrate how to deploy these guys based on the scheme. But a lot of that falls on me."

Q: You guys have six forced turnovers the last three games after five early in the season. Isaiah PolaMao said after the Chiefs game, there was a meeting where the players just said enough is enough. Obviously, coaches were involved in that too. I know you guys preach that all the time, but how much is that a mindset? How much isit the players deciding let's do this now and make it happen on the field?

Coach Graham: "You got to think about these young men. That's why it's a privilege to be around them every day. They made decisions when they were probably freshmen or sophomores in high school that they wanted to get a scholarship to go play sports. They did that. Then they got to college, and you're dealing with 130 something colleges, plus 1-A level, plus the 1-AA (FCS), everybody's trying to get to NFL. And they made a decision one day when they were at drills at five o'clock in the morning with some coach yelling at them, they're like I want to be an NFL player, and they made that decision. So, for me, when they get to this league and they get to this level, I tell them all the time, I'm amazed at how you guys can make decisions at such a young age. So, when they put their minds to do something, and really put their minds to do it, they could get it done. Again, when they put their minds to something, they've shown throughout their life that they can do that. So, whatever the meeting was, I'm not going to talk about that, you got to talk to Zay [Isaiah Pola-Mao] specifically. But when they put their minds to something, I mean, they've shown throughout their life, they could get that done. So, that's what they're trying to do."

Q: You've held opponents to 15 and 14 points the past two weeks. What stands out on tape about what you guys are doing on defense and what needs to continue to keep that trend moving forward?

Coach Graham: "It comes back to the pillars – effort, communication, discipline and take the ball. So, if we excel at those four fundamentals, in terms of our effort, in terms of running to the ball, not assuming anything, not assuming the play is over, making sure we tackle it down. Over communicating, making sure everybody's on the same page, discipline, eliminating the pre snap penalties, playing penalty free within the play, making sure we're doing our assignments; those all lead to positive things. And then whenever you're turning the ball over, I mean, the game is about getting the ball or keeping the ball if you're on offense, so whenever you get that stuff accomplished, it usually leads to good results. And that's what we're focused on, those four things. But that's really our North Star, that hasn't changed. Maybe we're having a little bit more success with it now, and we'll see how it plays out for Sunday."

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