BREAKING: Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce Final Presser Broncos Week

Moments ago, Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce spoke at his final press conference before heading to Denver to take on the Broncos this weekend, and we have it all for you.

Las Vegas Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce / Darrell Craig Harris, Sportss Illustrated

The Las Vegas Raiders (2-2), despite Davante Adams drama, are headed to Denver to take on their AFC West nemesis, the Broncos (2-2), on Sunday. 

We will address the Adams drama in great detail once the situation is resolved with another of our deep-dive articles. Still, the team has a full-steam-ahead mentality and looks forward to establishing their first multi-game winning streak of the season.

Moments ago, Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce spoke at his final press conference before heading to Denver to take on the Broncos this weekend, and we have it all for you.

Below is a transcript of Pierce’s entire press conference today:

Q: You have a lot of injured players, obviously. What isthat going to look like on Sunday? Is Maxx Crosby in line to potentially play?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, we'll see what Maxx [Crosby] can do today. And with the injuries, it's Week 5 in the National Football League. Just like everybody else, we're battling, and we'll see come Sunday who's ready to go."

Q: With Maxx Crosby, he's always the energy guy in practice. With him out, have you seen anyone take the reins in practice in that regard?

Coach Pierce: "It's hard to match Maxx's [Crosby] energy. I would think Robert Spillane, if I had to throw somebody out there. Not just energy, I think just the body of work, body language, the temperament, the talk is probably a little bit more vocal, which is needed. Obviously, he's a captain. You never try to replace a player as far as what they do and how they act and their mannerisms, but I think Robert Spillane has done a good job for us."

Q: Yesterday, the NCAA announced a punishment from when you were at Arizona State. Is that something that you had any sort of statement about or comment about?

Coach Pierce: "No, no comment. I'm employed by the Raiders."

Q: This is the second time you guys have a chance to stack two wins in a row. What are you hoping that the team learned from that loss to Carolina that you guys can change this time around?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, obviously we can't come out flat. Got to have energy. We've got to have poise. Playing on the road, so you're going to have to deal with the crowd. I think it's important that we get off to a fast start and, again, you got to protect the football, penalties, things of that nature. But we've talked about that at length this week, it's things that we need to do better as we come off wins. And it's about being consistent. Again, we talk about the highs and the lows, but just being that team that showed up this past Sunday again this Sunday."

Q: One thing you talked about during training camp was the depth at linebacker. I guess that's been tested a little bit here once again this week too with Luke Masterson. Do you expect to see more of Tommy Eichenberg and what has he shown you guys?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, the last two weeks I believe Tommy's [Eichenberg] got a lot more reps there along with [Amari] Burney as well. Both gentlemen, with Luke [Masterson] being out, and he'll be out for this game, Tommy willstart. I think Tommy's coming along. He got off to a greatstart in OTAs and then training camp, and then we had a little hiccup there with the injury, but he's bounced back really strong. And we feel really good, he's a good compliment to Robert Spillane. He's really good for our defense. Smart kid. He's hard-nosed, so we'll go out there. He'll make some rookie mistakes, but he does play 100 miles per hour."

Q: Would you consider that linebacker spot more of a by committee with Tommy Eichenberg, Amari Burney and Amari Gainer? Or are you trying to have somebody just kind of man up to take the spot for this game?

Coach Pierce: "Well, I think it's situational. I think that'll change. If you kind of follow last week's game, situational football will show with those other two linebackers, but I don't see Spill [Robert Spillane] ever coming out. Hopefully that never happens. But with different packages, different situations, you'll see different personnel groupings."

Q: How's Dylan Parham coming along?

Coach Pierce: "Good. He'll go out there today, give it a shot and see how it looks, and we'll go from there."

Q: Zamir White showed up on the injury report on Wednesday. Where does he stand right now as we head to Sunday?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, more than likely, he's doubtful."

Q: After Brock Bowers had that big game, I don’t know if teams maybe started defending him a little bit differently or focusing him a little bit differently. What's the key to maybe getting him back on track so that he's more involved?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, I mean, the first play the game last week, we did. Obviously, it didn't go our way, we dropped the ball on that one. But I think just finding different ways to give him a ball, moving around. I think you've seen that with us now, at fullback, tight end, the F position, maybe split out there at wide receiver, just moving him around. He's a weapon, right? I mean, he's a tight end, but he's a weapon, and wherever we can to get him the ball and create the matchups we want that's better for us."

Q: Maxx Crosby was working off to the side yesterday. Do you think he might be able to practice today?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, he'll be limited today."

Q: We asked about Davante Adams the other day; I know you don't want to talk about it. Do you hope the situation is resolved quickly?

Coach Pierce: "That's handled on the third floor. I'm focused on the Denver Broncos. Getting my team ready, prepared to play. We're excited about that. We're ready for it. So, everything else will handle itself. I'll handle the grass. [Tom] Telesco will handle everything else."

Q: I know you got coach Marvin Lewis with you, but do you stay in touch with Tom Coughlin throughout the season too?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, that's my alarm clock at 4:30 every morning. He still hasn't remembered that we're on West Coast time. Tom Coughlin is obviously heavily involved in things with me throughout the week, and we talk about any situation that comes up. I can bounce things off of him. He's a resource.”

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