WATCH: Rising Raiders Star Talks Meteoric Rise, Team Struggles

Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Jakorian Bennett spoke today ahead of traveling to Cincinnati this weekend to take on the Bengals.

Sep 15, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Jakorian Bennett (0) walks off of the field following the game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images / Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

HENDERSON, Nev. -- The Las Vegas Raiders (2-6) will try to get back on track against the Cincinnati Bengals (3-5) this Sunday.

Both teams have fallen below expectations this season despite superb play from a handful of players. For the Raiders, one of those bright spots has been second-year cornerback Jakorian Bennett.

Bennett spoke from the locker room today, and we have it all right here.

Below is a transcript of defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s entire press conference on Thursday:

Q: Obviously, Cincinnati has some good players. Ja'Marr Chase, what kind of challenges does he present?

Coach Graham: "Some good players? Yeah, I mean, he's one of the best in the league. If you want to argue he is the best, I don't have real good, strong rebuttal for that, between him, [Justin] Jefferson and some of the other guys. And then on top of that, they got a whole crew of receivers. They're all fast, they're all big. I think they've done a real good job in their personnel department of how they've shaped the team offensively. Given the quarterback, who is elite, this my first time going against him, and I'm really impressed with the quarterback in terms of his toughness. Before you start talking about just straight up the skill level, you're talking about the toughness he displays in the pocket, sits in there, gets the ball down the field, steps into the throws, his intelligence out there. You can see him changing plays. And you can see they're all on the same page, the receivers, the O-line, the backs. So, kudos to those guys in terms of what they've done with the personnel department and putting those guys together. I mean, you see there's some smart players out there, not just because they have the Ivy League guy, but there's some smart players out there that are really skilled and they present a ton of challenges. So, it's going to be a tough one."

Q: I know it's probably not exciting to try to prepare for?

Coach Graham: "Oh yes, it's exciting. I'm a competitor."

Q: I guess when you get to see a player for the first time like that, like dive in deep on a guy like Joe Burrow, is that a fun challenge for you?

Coach Graham: "Yeah, it was fun. I mean, again, on Monday, you hear us talking in the office like some of the guys have gone against him before. I'm sitting there like, 'Geez, this dude's good, man' and I'm smiling because of the challenge. I understand it causes later nights and some headaches, I guess, but I'm excited to go against him. He's a good player. And then the backs, real impressed with the backs, [Chase] Brown and [Zack] Moss. I mean, in terms of their ability to get into the hole, get to the second level, I think they got a good combination. Again, I think the personnel department has done a good job of putting that staff and that group together, and they're obviously well coached."

Q: Yesterday, Antonio Pierce talked about Tre'von Moehrig and how playing in the box has allowed him to make more plays on the ball. What went into that transition for him? I know he had been mostly a post safety in the past. What kind of level of play have you seen him in the last couple games?

Coach Graham: "Football is a big man sport, and he's a big man, so like get him down there near the action. And the other thing is, he's doing both. He's doing both. He's in the deep part of the field, he's down. That really comes with the position, especially in today's league where you have to operate from some split safety looks, drop it down, stay in there. But I mean, Tre's [Tre'von Moehrig] just grown as a football player. I think GA [Gerald Alexander] has done a really good job. Chris Ash, when we got here two years ago, did a good job of bringing him along, and now GA [Gerald Alexander] is there and he's just really growing and maturing. And again, like I've told you guys before, it's a choice they make, a choice they make to say, 'Okay, I'm a professional football player. I really don't have anything else to do except get good at football,' and then you got to put that work in. Real proud of what he's done. And he's always had this skill level, and you're just starting to see him reap the rewards of his hard work. Real proud of that guy."

Q: The past couple of weeks, Maxx Crosby has obviously been dealing with that ankle injury. However, he’s still statistically ranked amongst one of the top edge rushers in the league. How impressive is it to see him still put in that effort? And how much of a standard or message does that send to the locker room?

Coach Graham: "Well, I don't talk about injuries as an assistant coach, but I'm always impressed with everything Maxx [Crosby] does. If you were around him as much as we are, you would be impressed with everything. Whether it's a birthday party for his daughter, how he operates in meetings, his prep, getting ready for a meeting, his prep in the walkthrough. Zeroed in and laser focused. I'm always impressed with what he does. And physically, he could do anything out there on that field that he puts his mind to. And the beauty of it is, he's always searching for more. He's always searching for 1% to get better. As a coach, when you have an elite player like that, that's eager to get better and wants the coaching and wants to work on his craft, that makes my job easier."

Q: As far as Tyree Wilson goes, he had his first sack this past game. How great was it to see him come through?

Coach Graham: "The thing when you're dealing with young edge rushers or young rushers, D-linemen, again, in my opinion, unless you're truly, truly like elite speed, it takes some adjusting to our game because they've never been blocked before. So, again, I'm patient. I can't speak for everybody out there in the world for being patient, but he's been working hard on getting his hand placement right, getting his eyes in the right place, playing with a good base, shoring up his base because he had to get a little stronger down there in his lower body. I'm just happy that he's reaping the rewards, and to me, the rewards aren't necessarily just getting sacks all the time. I understand because they're on Twitter and people are talking, I get that. I mean, the sacks are the sexy thing to get. But he's gotten pressure, he's pushed back guards and centers during his time here. But of course, I love it when they get a sack. I know he would agree with me on this one though, I love it more if we get a win. That's what we got to start stacking."

Q: How much of a relief was it when Robert Spillane was able to come right back in the game?

Coach Graham: "No different than whether it's the fans, players out there on the field, Spill [Robert Spillane] himself probably. I mean, you want the guy to come back, obviously. But nobody's going to care about my feelings, so I don't really get caught up in relief or sadness or happiness. I'm always happy to have the best players out there, and Spill is one of our best players, so I was just happy that he was okay. That's the main thing for me. But sense of relief, I mean, the game was going to keep going on, so Spil wouldn't want me to sit there worried about it."

Q: You mentioned Andrei Iosivas was an Ivy League player. Are you really counting Princeton as Ivy League?

Coach Graham: "Yeah, H-Y-P – I mean, it's H-Y-P; Harvard, Yale Princeton. But there's only one that's really the best. We all know who that is."  

Q: You talked about stacking up wins and your defense is doing their part on their end. How much more do you think that they have to do in order to help this team win?

Coach Graham: “Our part as a defense is to keep them from having less points than our offense. So, that's our part. So, that's all that matters, all that matters. That in terms of on Sundays. Between Sundays, it's about improving and winning the day. So, today, we've got a big day. There was great energy in the room today. There was great energy in the walk thru. I'm excited to see how practice goes today and see how we win Thursday today. And then get in the meetings later and win those meetings right there. But our job, and it hasn't changed, it's always to keep the opposing team's offense from having less points than our offense or points of the team. So, that's our job. So, that job description will never change for us. Not trying to be rude or anything, but that's how I operate, not tensed up, but that's our job. I don't care how many points we've got to keep them down to."

Q: Third down offense is a lot of focus, but how important is it going to be this week to limit Cincinnati's success on those early downs, so you can put yourself in positions really unleash the defense?

Coach Graham: "It's to be going to be critical. It's going to be critical. You can see the effects. I mean, not to live in the past, but last week when we didn't get off the field, we made them snap it again, but we didn't get off the field. We eliminated the early down explosives, but we didn't do what we've been doing all year. I've got to fix that in terms of, I've got to do a better job calling it, got to do a better job putting the guys in the right position. But to go 75% on third down last week, what they did, I mean, that's unacceptable. I mean, you get called to the principal's office on that one. We can't do that. No, no, no, that's not good ball."

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