Josh McDaniels on State of the Las Vegas Raiders
HENDERSON, Nev.-The Las Vegas Raiders entered the 2022 season with high expectations.
After a disappointing loss in the first game of the season, none of those expectations are thwarted. It was only one game of a 17-game season.
Josh McDaniels directed the loss after watching the film and looked ahead to the coming week.
You can watch his entire press conference below, and read the transcript.
Head Coach Josh McDaniels
Opening statement: “After looking at it (the film), much like we talked about last night, didn’t get off to a great start and then I think there were really some key things that we needed to do well in the game that we didn’t really do well. And so, good opportunity for us today and these first few weeks of the season to really learn from the things that we see on film that if you do them a little bit better here or there, it would certainly change the outcome of an individual play and it could change the outcome of a possession and it certainly would change the outcome of a game. That goes both ways, I’m sure they’re saying there’s some things that they left out there as well. But today will be a good opportunity for us to see what we can do better, which won’t be very hard to see. So, we’ll be hard at work today and try to improve from this and be a better football team going forward.”
Q: On Derek Carr’s interceptions, was that the result of being too aggressive or was that more of a timing issue?
Coach McDaniels: "There's a lot that goes into passing the ball obviously; reading the coverage, making a decision on where you want to go with the ball, and then the actual mechanics of throwing it the way you want to throw it. Any number of those things could deter us from having success. The deep one to [Davante] Tae [Adams] was a little underthrown on that one. Same thing with the one down the middle to [Darren] Waller. Again, that was more of a decision of how to throw it than underthrowing. He put more zip on that one as opposed to touch, and those are decisions that happen in a football game. Like I said, we're going to learn a lot from this because there are hidden opportunities within possessions – offensively, defensively – to create a different situation. And what I mean by that is you have a second-and-three play and you might have executed that play a little bit better, and maybe it was first-and-10 because you gained eight, or 12, or 15 yards, instead of third-and-three. I think there's a lot of those that happened yesterday where we ended up in a situation, but it could have been prevented had we had more success earlier, or on defense done a better job of stopping them in certain situations. There's a lot that goes into that, but we'll try to fix all of it, certainly. There's nothing more important than us than taking care of the ball. There's no question about that, it's hard to win when we do that."
Q: How much of that was lack of in-game reps from the preseason?
Coach McDaniels: "I don't know if we would have simulated that a ton, anyway. Again, I'm not going to look back on it and regret anything. Like I said, I think we were a healthy football team going into yesterday, I was happy about that. There were definitely players that didn't play in the preseason, but I also thought we had a lot of guys that didn't play in the preseason that played well yesterday. There were a few plays, like I said, here or there, that you say, 'Man, if we were to change the outcome of that.' But that's football, that happens every week. Unfortunately, we are on the short end of those yesterday, and we're going to take the right attitude and approach here and try to fix those things and be better for it."
Q: How optimistic can you be about the way the team fought until the end?
Coach McDaniels: "You're never going to hear me talk about moral victories, or anything like that, because I don't believe in that. But I liked the competitive spirit of our team. I liked the character that we displayed yesterday. I mean it’s football; you fall behind, you keep playing. Our job is to catch up, play better, coach better, and catch up. We had a chance to do that. And for that, like I said, I respect the way we played and competed. But that's every week. We're going to play another good team this week and so if we do the right things, we'll have a chance. And if we don't and we put ourselves in a hole, it'll be hard. Learning how to win is not something you get to carry over from one year to the next, not as a coach and not as a team. That's something that you acquire through work and trust and repetition and habits. I really believe that and so we're going to work hard at it again this week."
Q: How would you assess the overall play of the offensive line? Were there combinations that you liked?
Coach McDaniels: "I think they all played competitively; I really do. Like I said, we're not searching for anything. We're playing the guys that deserve to play. There are seven guys that played yesterday because they earned the opportunity with their performance throughout the course of the preseason and in training camp, and they've done it through thousands of reps. So, if something were to break and say, 'Hey, these five are clearly different from the other five,' then we could go in that direction. But I thought the two young players acquitted themselves decent. There are going to be things that we're going to correct today across the board, all five guys, all seven guys that played. I also think they did a lot of good things in the game that gave us opportunities to make plays, both in the running game in the passing game. We can blitz pickup better; we had a couple issues with our backs just in terms of overall protection. We had a couple of things where we're trying to help the protection and didn't do it necessarily the way that we wanted to do it. And then we had a couple of issues where we probably could have gotten the ball out a little quicker based on something that was available to us. So, I've always believed that protection is a team thing, it's not just on the offensive line. I've coached in a lot of games where we've thrown it 50 times and never have been touched, and the reason we didn't get touched is because the whole design of the play was to get it out fast. Maybe the offensive line got a ton of credit that day, but I'm not really sure that it was just on them. It's a function of everybody doing their job, it really is. It won't ever be any different. They got to do their job, but so do the skill guys, so do the backs in blitz pickups, so do the tight ends. But I thought those guys competed hard, I thought they gave us an opportunity to win. And again, we're going to fix a lot of things today and correct them so hopefully we'll be better for it."
Q: Any updates on the injured players from yesterday’s game?
Coach McDaniels: "Andre [James] is back here now, which is a good thing. That was a little bit of a concern last night, so we did the right thing there. But he's here, he came back last night. I haven't met with (Head Athletic Trainer) Chris [Cortez] yet. We obviously came out of it with some bumps and bruises, for sure. I'm not exactly sure the extent yet on those, the guys haven't all trickled in yet. So, we'll find out more today. But it was a physical game, that was for sure. I thought they played real hard and physical. I thought we tried to do the same thing. Both teams had some people that left the game, no question about it. I think that speaks to opening day and being ready to go, the depth of the team. Luke Masterson is in there playing linebacker on opening day, I'm not sure he really imagined he would be doing that. But that's the nature of football. We'll see more today as they come in."
Q: In your career, have you seen the biggest improvement in teams come between Week 1 and 2?
Coach McDaniels: "I'd love to be able to say that I could guarantee that, but that wouldn't be an accurate statement. I don't think it's fair to put that kind of a burden on one person or one unit to say, 'Hey, this is our only chance to really take a big step.' I think it happens organically. When we see it clearly, we understand what it is we all need to do a little bit better, and then we make those necessary adjustments during the week of practice and then play that way to get the results we're talking about. Sometimes, just saying, 'if you do this, this will happen', isn't enough. You have to work at it in practice, you have to get some results on the practice field first. And there are certain things that we're doing well, and then there's other things we're not. I think you got to coach those things as hard as you can this week. Get them to trust it, believe in it, and then go out and do it in a game, and then when you get the results in a game then it kind of starts to sink in like, 'Yeah, this is a good formula for us.' There were certain things we understand, and I think that we'll see another opportunity here today to fix some of those things and make ourselves better."
Q: In your offensive scheme, do you need Derek Carr to occasionally run with the ball more?
Coach McDaniels: "I would like that not to happen a whole lot. I'm not a big fan of our quarterbacks doing that necessarily, but if it presented itself and the situation was right of course the guys are going to do that. And Derek's done that over his career. We didn’t have a whole lot of rushing yesterday between the two quarterbacks. I think if it's necessary and you need it, yes. Preferably, I'd like to keep that little cocoon in a nice spot and let him throw the ball from the pocket. Hopefully we can do that a little better."
Q: Were you relieved to have reached a three-year contract extension with Darren Waller before the start of the season? And what did you think of his performance against the Chargers?
Coach McDaniels: "I'm happy for Darren and happy for the Raiders. Obviously, he's been a really good player here and a very productive player. I know that Dave [Ziegler] and Darren's representatives hae been working hard on that for a while and so I'm really happy for him. He made some big plays again, had some other opportunities where we just missed a little bit. Darren competes hard, practices hard, plays hard, and certainly can be a big factor in a game. I got to try to do a better job of maybe getting him even more opportunities. But I'm happy about that whole situation and looking forward to continuing to work with him going forward."
Q: What’s that fine line between trying to get the ball out quickly and also holding the ball a little bit longer to let that play develop?
Coach McDaniels: "There's an art in terms of trying to figure out at what point do you go ahead and do that – not only the quarterback, but also maybe the way you call the game. There's a feeling during the drive; if the rush is fresh, maybe we don't do that as much. If the rush is a little tired, maybe we do it more. And then the quarterback, obviously he's out there. Nobody knows and understands the rush and the way the coverage is being played more than he does because he's on the field. I have a great deal of respect and appreciation for the quarterbacks in general because you and I can sit here and say, 'Hey, do this, or do that.' But at the end of the day, they got the ball and they're feeling everything. They see the rush, they see the disguise, they see the blitzers, they see the coverage. They understand a lot of the little things that are happening on the field. Would I love to say that we are going to play a perfect game in terms of timing and 'Hey, we're going to get it out quick and then at the perfect moment, we're going to hold it. And the rush is going to die down, and then we're going to throw it for a chunk, and then we're going to go back to throwing it quick again.' That'd be great. Every time I call a screen, they're going to be 15 yards up the field, I mean, that'd be perfect, but it's not realistic. Some of the things that you have to do I think in the passing game – and this just takes games, and reps, and feeling, and understanding – is when to say the plays done. I want it to work, and that first reading wasn’t there, that second reading wasn’t there, you know what, maybe the situation in the game is such that I just throw the ball away and take an incomplete pass. That happens. It's the same thing with a runner; every run can't be a touchdown. I thought there were times yesterday where we tried for extra yards, and there were times we put our head down and got a couple extra and that was it. Making those split-second decisions is important and understanding when to do it, when not to do it. But there is not an exact science, that's for sure."
Q: After watching the film, is there some things that you saw that you were very encouraged about?
Coach McDaniels: "I'll start with our effort and competitiveness. Like I said, that's a good football team. They got a lot of good players, we know that. They're very well-coached. This team, last year, had been in two close games with them before. We felt like it would be a situation where we're probably going to come down to the fourth quarter. We talked about that a lot of last week, and that's the kind of game it was. I thought we did a decent job of containing a few of their really big play players. [Mike] Williams, we tried to do a good job of limiting his overall production. And I know [Keenan] Allen went out of the game, and he had a few big ones before he went out of the game. And then we tried to tackle [Austin] Ekeler as best we could, he's really a good player. I thought we did that decent. We didn't run it enough because of the score and the way the game kind of ended up going, but I thought when did there was some production there. A lot to be learned, more to be had in every phase, no question about it. I thought we had a chance at a punt block and just missed it, but those are things that happen. This game is not a game of what-ifs, it’s a game of what happened. We're going to learn from those things today."
The Las Vegas Raiders (0-1) kickoff at home inside Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, facing the Arizona Cardinals (0-1) at 1:25 PM PT.
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