Josh McDaniels Final Update: Raiders vs. Cardinals

The Las Vegas Raiders Josh McDaniels offers his final thoughts on his matchup Sunday with Kliff Kingsbury and the Arizona Cardinals

HENDERSON, Nev.-The Las Vegas Raiders (0-1) return to the gridiron on Sunday for their home opener at Allegiant Stadium, and Josh McDaniels had a lot of thoughts on the matchup.

This is a must-win game for the Silver and Black, and McDaniels is well aware of the urgency.

You can watch his entire final press conference below, and read the transcript:

Head Coach Josh McDaniels

Q: Any update on Tre'von Moehrig or Andre James?

Head Coach Josh McDaniels: "Not yet. Nothing yet to me, until they tell me, 'We can't do it, we're just not going to make it.' And the reason I say that is because I have too much respect for these guys and what they've put into trying to get back to sit here and make a knee-jerk decision prior to letting them have every opportunity to do that. So, they're finishing up some things right now and we'll see what, if anything, they can do today. And if not, then we'll obviously report it as soon as practice is over."

Q: Is Andre James's case a matter of clearing protocols?

Coach McDaniels: "Yeah, he's in the protocol. That had nothing to do with me and us. When that happens we want to make sure the player's health comes first for sure. No doubt about it."

Q: You coached Kliff Kinsgsbury in New England in the preseason. How much of a full circle moment is it for you to be head coaching a game against him after being with him for that short period of time?

Coach McDaniels: "It doesn't surprise me, because he was very bright, young guy when we got him there, and he just knew football, understood it. It came easy to him. He was interested in all aspects of the game of football, picked up things quickly, could talk it very easily, had great questions and just had a football mind. So it doesn't surprise me that he's ascended to this point and he's had success doing it at every level. It'll be great to see him. He's a great guy. He's a good friend of mine, and I look forward to competing against him."

Q: You obviously cross-trained Dylan Parham at center for a lot of different reasons. But one reason might have been to have to play him in case somebody gets hurt. Is there any kind of a fine line for you in terms of playing him at that spot as opposed to letting him stay on the guard train to keep that going? Is there anything that comes into play in that regard?

Coach McDaniels: "Not really. I think offensive linemen by nature, if they do play multiple positions, I think every rep is really a positive for them because again, you're making a call and you're at right guard, and that means something to you that it might not mean to you on the left side. If you're a center, you're kind of in tune with both sides at the same time. So, being able to process all that information and then use it when you're at whatever spot you're at, I don't think there's a negative to that. I really don't. I think it's a positive no matter what. And our goal will always try to be let's put the five guys out there that give us the best opportunity to have some success. In last week's case, we're early in the season, it's a hot, humid day, there ends up being seven guys play and contribute, which is a good thing. We wouldn't put him in that position if we didn't think he could handle it and he hadn't proved that he could handle it for weeks and now months at a time. So, (we) feel comfortable with him being able to play multiple roles."

Q: Josh, you guys signed a few players this week that have to learn your scheme and prepare for an opponent on a short notice. As coaches, what goes into kind of helping guys expedite that process as quickly as possible?

Coach McDaniels: "The depth of the coaching staff is really important at this point in time and that will be the case the entire season. Because when you get a new player either on the roster or on the practice squad that has a potential to elevate and play quickly, there's really no rest for the weary here. So the normal meetings and the game planning and the prep for the next day, none of that is going to change, but you also have to put time aside for those people to try to get them caught up and help them acclimate as quickly as you can. So, our assistant offensive line coach and the young QC's (quality control coaches) on the staff and some of the senior guys on the staff have taken time out of their day, and we just split the meetings up. So if there's a game plan meeting going on with the staff, then there might be a few other guys that are not there, and that's just what you've got to do at this point in time. We'll always try to do what's best for the team in that regard, but we can't shortchange the new player, because they just don't have the same foundation."

Q: What is the mindset for this team heading into the home opener at Allegiant?

Coach McDaniels: "It's super exciting, you can tell. We had good energy yesterday, good day of pads yesterday, and the effort, the attitude, the energy was where we want it to be. I can tell they're excited. We've learned a lot about our team and ourselves over the last I'd say a few weeks here including the opener last week. I think anytime you have an opportunity to start your home season in your stadium in front of your fans, your family, your friends, it's always an opportunity that you look forward to. I think all of us are excited to get there Sunday morning. It won't be shocking to me that we're all there super early on Sunday ready to go.”

Q: You talked about the atmosphere inside Allegiant during the preseason. Now that we've reached a regular season game, what's your expectation for what it's going to be like in there?

Coach McDaniels: "I'm expecting it to be an advantage. That's what you always would hope for when you're playing at home. We know that our responsibility is to play well and give them reason to make noise. We know we have a great following, and from what I've seen the best in the league. So we are certainly excited to have an opportunity to perform in front of them, and like I said I can't wait because I really haven't experienced it. I've never played here as an opposing coach, so I don't really know what that's like. But I've seen the television copy of last year’s last game of the season and you could just feel the energy and hear it. I've seen the television copy of last year's opener, so same thing you can kind of feel it. We're working with noise in practice to try to simulate that for the defense and the special teams and hopefully we're quiet when we're on offense. That would be the right way to do it I think, and hopefully we can do that. We're excited - I'm excited personally, to feel it and see it. I know there's going to be a lot of energy on Sunday, and like I said, hopefully we can play well."

Q: With COVID-19 the NFL extended the practice squad by those six veteran players. How has that been received? And how important of tool is that for you guys?

Coach McDaniels: "It's very beneficial for multiple reasons. One, you have more depth at practice, so when you're trying to get guys out there to give yourself a look on either side of the ball, you're not taking as many players that are - here's our offensive period, and we're working on all that stuff, then we go to the defensive period and half those guys got to go back out there and do it again. So, it gives you some depth at practice that is important. It also gives you the opportunity to make decisions based on the rules and some of the ways that they've changed those now in terms of what's the right group to take to the game relative to the elevation operation and that whole process. It brings a lot more people into the conversation. It gives a lot more people opportunity to continue to perform at practice and improve, which we're trying to do that. And for us, we've tried to always set aside time in every practice for the players in that category to continue to ascend like it's like a continuation of training camp, because to me at some point they're all going to have a chance to come up. We feel good about the group we have, and like I said, we're fortunate that they've done that."

Q: Being a veteran player with a track record like Davante Adams, what has it been like getting to know him over the last few months beyond just what he does on the football field?

Coach McDaniels: "I have a deep respect and appreciation for him. I've said this many times, we know he's a great player, but getting to know the person is really important. As I've gotten older, that's probably the most important part of my job. Just to see these guys and what makes them tick and what's important to them outside of the day-to-day football part of it. He's such a good family person, husband, father, those things are all really important to him. He's a great teammate, unselfish, first person to congratulate somebody else when they do something well, practices is really hard. He's the things you would want each player to demonstrate and be not only on the field, but also outside of the building in his personal life. I don't know if I could say enough superlatives to describe him just in terms of his overall impact not only in the building, but also to all of us outside of the building."

Q: With Chandler Jones, going from when you first had him in New England to now, what’s been the biggest area of improvement in his game or his personal life that you've noticed?

Coach McDaniels: "When you when you first come in and you're a rookie, you're surviving on skill and ability. Now having so many years in, there's such a different level of awareness of what's happening on the other side of the ball. There's just an element of savvy and instincts that you've now been able to develop over time. You've seen that before, you know how to play it. You may not have known how to do it as a rookie or a you're a young player, but just being able to refine your craft. All your techniques and your fundamentals are so much better year two, three, four, eight, ten than they are when you're a young player. Just such a good leader, great presence, super willing to help everybody else. Again, another guy that's made everybody better."

Q: What's your perspective on Isaiah Simmons and the threats be poses to the second and third levels?

Coach McDaniels: "First of all, you’ve got to find him, and they have a player with a rare skillset there. I played him in 2020 and he played safety, he played linebacker. Last week he played nickel. It wouldn't surprise me if they played him at corner. I mean he can pass rush, he can blitz, he can cover. [He had] 100 tackles last year, he's all over the field. He's another player that I would put in that category of he's an explosive player that is difficult to deal with. So, you’ve got to feel the game out and find him, in terms of where they're going to play him. I think he gives them a lot of flexibility. They asked him to cover tight ends, he's covered receivers, he's covered backs, he's pressured. So, just a guy we have to know where he's at, got to be really sensitive to where he aligns and what he's capable of doing. I have a lot of respect for him, their defense is very talented."

Q: You talked in the preseason about not beating yourself with self-inflicted wounds. There were a couple against the Chargers so did that provide the team with a teaching moment this week, and was there an extra emphasis on not doing that?

Coach McDaniels: "Yeah, I mean I think you can only say that so many times. We understand what it means. I think our players and our team understand what it means. Certainly before you can win you have to not lose the game with things like that – self-inflicted penalties or turnovers, what have you. I think they all understand what that is. But I don't think - it's not great coaching for me to stand up here and just keep saying that. If there's something that I can coach and help the player improve something that they didn't do as well, that's really where the focus needs to be. Certainly, nobody on our team is attempting to do anything like that like commit a penalty or anything like that. So, I've learned over many years not just hold my breath and stomp my feet when those things happen. If I have something constructive, then I'm going to try to coach it, and that's the best I can do. But our guys, I think they really understand what we're trying to do. I thought they demonstrated that in the preseason of trying to be less penalized, trying to take care of the football on a play-to-play basis. So just going back to our fundamentals and really working on that, trying to do it in practice. We believe that what we do in practice will carry over to the game."

Q: Last week you got the ball back in your own end and decided to just go into halftime. What are the variables that factor into your decision there, and how much of it is decided before game versus as thegame happens?

Coach McDaniels: "I'd say both. We definitely have an idea before the game kind of where we're at in that regard in terms of field position, timeouts, what the other team is like – how they operate in their two-minute offense, who's getting the ball to start the second half. In that case last week, we were. I'd say there's not just one variable that would go into that decision. We had turned the ball over and then they had scored, so you're kind of sitting there and you have to weigh the pros and the cons of it, you really do. I thought that the decision was made – right or wrong – we decided to do what we did there, and then we were able to come out and score to start the third quarter and regain some momentum there and try to put the game back into a one-score situation. Each week is probably different. Each scenario when you get the ball back at the end of the second quarter is definitely different; how many timeouts do you have, what's on the clock, what field position, how has the first half gone, who gets the kickoff to start the third quarter. There are so many variables to factor into those decisions, you just want to try to make the right decision. And again, that's debatable – anybody can debate that."

Q: You guys deferred after winning the toss, is that your philosophy in general?

Coach McDaniels: "It depends. We play a lot of games inside this year, so obviously wind will be less of a factor than it's been in my lifetime this year. So that will be less of a consideration at the beginning of the game. But if it's ever an outdoor game with significant wind or factors in the weather where you would want to have the opportunity to choose the wind in the fourth quarter, that could certainly affect it. And then you look at everything else, like how does the other team start on offense? How well have they done defensively? Where do you feel like the best place for you to start the game would be if you win the toss? So, we try to make a smart decision, but it's definitely something that we use a lot of information and there's a lot of people that factor into that choice."

The Las Vegas Raiders (0-1) kick off at home in Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, facing the Arizona Cardinals (0-1) at 1:25 PM PDT.

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