Las Vegas Raiders Brandon Bolden on Training Camp, Team

The Las Vegas Raiders' off-season coup of stealing talent from other NFL teams was impressive, including adding Brandon Bolden from the New England Patriots

HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders had an impressive off-season, and one signing that has flown under the proverbial radar was the signing of running back Brandon Bolden from the New England Patriots.

Bolden is a versatile back who does all of the little things that Coach Josh McDaniels craves. He spoke after training cam practice and you can watch the entire press conference below and read the transcript:

Running Back Brandon Bolden

Q: Even as a veteran, the night before pads come on, is it still a big thing?

Bolden: “Oh yeah, it's like Christmas, you know, you're anticipating. I mean ever since you take the pads off in January, February, however it comes, you dream about that moment of strapping them back on. Because we work our butts off the entire offseason. I mean that goes for everybody across the board. So, to finally get a chance to put the pads on and make it more of a physical game, not as much mental but still mental, but to get back to the physical part of game, I think everybody's been waiting for.”

Q: What do you look for as a veteran, from some of your teammates, maybe some of the younger teammates, when it gets to that level and the physicality gets ratcheted up a little bit?

Bolden: “I don't even know what you're asking me. I'm expecting football, so I'm expecting to get hit. I'm expecting to hit a few people. Yeah, I'm expecting to play football.”

Q: As a veteran to be a week into camp, is it still a game to you? Is it still something it's not a job, it's a game to you?

Bolden: “Oh, it's still a game. I mean, it's very serious because yes, it is a job, this is the only thing I have to do. It's not like as a kid, you got to go to school, you got to make sure you got good grades, and then you get to go have fun with your friends. This is wake up, go to meetings, go out, laugh (and) joke around, try to keep things light because it is camp. Once the pads start coming on and we start to stack those days, come to 'dog days' and so that's when no one wants to joke around and laugh anymore because everybody's dog tired. So just try to keep everybody's spirits up. I've tried to keep everything light, keep everything moving. That's something that I've had vets do for me as a younger player and I'm just trying to keep that flame going.”

Q: How much have you been able to help teach the scheme to players?

Bolden: “Just help anybody, you know, any questions they may or may not have, even if I don't have to answer right away, I'll go find the answer for him. But I'm here because I know the system, I'm here to help everyone out because I know the system, and I mean there isn't an answer I can't give or find out for any of my teammates.”

Q: What have you seen from the development of the offensive line?

Bolden: “From the offseason to camp it's going to be a grind with a new system, new players and everything else. So as for me, in particular, I'm learning each of my linemen individually, and then as a group. Just to know who I'm running behind, how they like to block, their style of blocking, how they take the things, how they see things. So, we try to see everything, as coach would say, through the same eye view. So just getting to know them, getting to kind of pick their brains a little bit, it's been very interesting to me. I've very rarely had offensive linemen who everybody was new to the system. So just to see how they hear things and go about everything is helping them as a player and also helping me as a player as well.”

Q: Tomorrow's Christmas with the first day of pads. Nine days away, you got the first preseason game, what's that for you?

Bolden: “Oh, that's New Year's baby. We get to see some fireworks.”

Q: How excited are you for being able to have competition even though it's preseason?

Bolden: “I mean, like you said, we're just getting into pads for the first time tomorrow and so that'll be exciting. But after the fourth or fifth time, it's like 'okay, I'm tired of hitting him because I can't hit him as hard as I want to.' So, it'd be fun to go line up against somebody else and put it towards some work…all work matters, but this one actually matters because we're going against somebody else.”

Q: You talked about getting to know each lineman, do you have to change what you have to do?
Bolden: “Oh, like I said, I'm very familiar with the system and we always have the saying 'high-man makes the low man right,' so me playing running back and being off the line of scrimmage, seeing how they see it and being able to go, I'm able to adapt. I'm trying to tell the running backs, we're like water, we just go wherever we're directed.”

Q: Early thoughts just on Zamir White, what do you think of him as a rookie and maybe some things you've seen?

Bolden: “Zamir is being a rookie and doing what rookies should do. He's asking questions, he's getting in his playbook, and as far as I can tell, he's doing exactly what he needs to be doing.”

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