Josh McDaniels Offers Latest on Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders Josh McDaniels gave his state of the Las Vegas Raiders address for Week 2.

HENDERSON, Nev.-The Las Vegas  Raiders (0-1) are not wasting time licking their wounds from a disappointing opening to the 2022 NFL regular season.

After talking to several players that have been coached by McDaniels, I asked him about his approach once the regular season starts.

McDaniels also looked ahead to the Arizona Cardinals and the state of the Las Vegas Raiders.

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

Head Coach Josh McDaniels

Opening Statement...

Coach McDaniels: "We're deep into Arizona. This is a really talented football team, and then looking at them last year, 8-1 on the road. So, playing away from their home stadium is something that they were very comfortable doing last year and had a lot of success doing it. They certainly got off to a fast start last year, and I know - much like we did - didn't get off to the start they wanted to do last week. But they've got a lot of explosive elements to their game. That's the probably the word that I would use to describe them most in all three phases. We're hard at work getting familiar with these guys in all those phases. It'll be a big challenge for us this week."

Q: Do you have an update on Tre'von Moehrig, Andre James and the other guys that got hurt?

Coach McDaniels: "No reports. They're all obviously working to try to get out there and see how it goes. I'd say we'll see how today goes for some of those guys for sure. (I'm) hopeful that we'll get a few of those guys, if not most of them, back here soon. But they've all been in treatment here now for 48 hours, and like I said, we'll see how today goes then try to evaluate it from there."

Q: The Cardinals defense blitzed on over half of their snaps and played a lot of man coverage. How does it change how you prepare for them as an offense?

Coach McDaniels: "Yeah, they were one of the top couple blitzing teams in the entire league last year, and then they obviously didn't change their philosophy last week. They generate a lot of negative plays, a lot of pressure on the quarterback, create a lot of third-and-long situations with negative plays, with their blitz packages. Vance (Joseph) has always done a great job of being able to try to attack protections and formations with different pressures that he uses, and he has as a volume of them, it's pretty extensive. So, for us, we're going to need to do a good job of obviously identifying exactly where they're lined up at. They've got a lot of different personnel groupings that they use and very athletic blitzers from [Isaiah] Simmons, to [Budda] Baker to [Zaven] Collins. They all come, and when they come, they're coming fast. They basically threw the kitchen sink at Kansas City last week. And again, that's just awareness, communication pre-snap, and then we've got to follow your rules. I wouldn't say we've seen every blitz that they have, so we're probably going to get some things that are unique to us. That's why we try to practice those things over and over again all year long, because when you face a team like this, it's going to test you in that manner. You're going to need to rely on what you know; you can't always predict where it's coming from. So, this will be a big challenge just for our overall operation, our communication and then our ability to do our assignments once the ball is snapped."

Q: With Derek Carr and Davante Adams playing together again for the first time since college - is that overblown, the connection they have when they get this far in the league, or do you think there's something to that?

Coach McDaniels: "I mean, if you spent time with somebody, certainly you probably have a comfort level and a trust that's been built up over many years and many repetitions. We're trying to do that with different groups on our team right now. I think every team in the league is doing the same thing. So, whether that's a corner and a safety playing together and getting that communication, a receiver and a quarterback, a center and a guard - there's an element of trust that you want to have between two people that are working together. So, there's no question that Marquise [Brown] and Kyler [Murray] - they played with each other, there's body language, there's kind of like that unspoken eye contact that they probably have, I'm sure. So, there's no doubt that that would help. There's no question."

Q: Since you drafted Dylan Parham, you really made it an emphasis that you wanted to work him at all of the interior spots. Was part of the reason for a situation like this where there's some uncertainty with Andre [James]? And do you feel comfortable with him if he has to take snaps at center?

Coach McDaniels: "Yeah, this is why you have to play him at multiple positions, because in our game there's definitely going to be an element of injury at all positions, but certainly on the offensive line. So being able to be the next man up, whether that's at guard, center, tackle, what have you, is important. We've always said it, the more positions that you can handle, the more value you bring to the team because you can backup other spots. And unfortunately, you don't have a backup for every man at the game, so some guys are going to have to backup two or three spots. There's no doubt that he did a good job of really playing three spots really the entire time since he's been here. I think that has served him well not only to play guard on either side, but when he's playing guard, he's getting the calls from center so that when he plays center, now he's doing the communicating. So, it all counts for something, no question. Every rep he's taken has been valuable to him, and I know he'll be ready to go. He performed admirably last week, and whatever role he's going to play this week, I know he'll be ready."

Q: When you watched John Simpson's film, how did you think he played?

Coach McDaniels: "Like I said, all of those guys they played pretty tough inside, fought in protection. It was a good pass rush last week, no doubt about it. We found ourselves in a few situations where it was an obvious pass. I thought they all handled themselves very competitively. There were some little things that we saw that we need to do a little better relative to technique and fundamentals. When we do it right, I think we're pretty consistent, but that’s what our repetitions in our practice will be for. And I thought that the film was very valuable to us. We saw elements of success when we were doing the things fundamentally the right way. Then when you don't and you're playing against good teams that try to expose those things, it can be tough. So, I thought John [Simpson] was competitive in there. I thought that whole group was and we're going to need them to be competitive again this week for sure."

Q: Anthony Averett went down last week, and you guys brought a couple of cornerbacks in the building. Is there enough time to get those guys ready to play Sunday?

Coach McDaniels: "We don't have a choice. The game is on Sunday, so that's just the way it is. We have guys on the roster, we have guys on the practice squad and now we've added a couple new faces here to work in there, and we'll evaluate it as we go through the week. That's the way the National Football League is. We'll be ready."

Q: Were you pleased with the decisions Derek [Carr] made with the distribution of passes, or are there changes you would like to tweak?

Coach McDaniels: "I just want the ball to go where it's supposed to. I've always said this, the defense gets a vote. I wish I could tell you exactly where it's going to go on every play, but they get a vote. So, they'll have a vote this week. Sometimes the coverage gets distributed, so it forces the ball to go here. And sometimes just the nature of the play, the read is left to right or right to left, and they don't take away the first option, so you go ahead and throw the football there. We definitely want to try to maintain our balance, but at the same time I think the most important thing for our quarterbacks and our offense in general is to continue to try to take the positive play that the defense is basically saying, 'Hey, go ahead we're going to give you this,' and we have to make smart decisions. There are some things we’ll learn, no question about it. Derek (and I), we talked about a few things the other day that we're going to hopefully be better for this week. But distribution has a funny way of evening itself out throughout the course of the season. I've been in games where they don't take away Randy Moss and the ball goes there 20 times. Then the next week he has three targets. Like I said, over time those things tend to even themselves out."

Q: As a coach, how much comfort does it give you to have Daniel Carlson on your team?

Coach McDaniels: "It's a good feeling. It is what it is. We're fortunate. Dave [Ziegler] and I have talked about this since we got here, our specialists have been phenomenal. When that's such a big part of the game, which it is every week - to be able to change field position in the punt game, to be able to convert all your scoring opportunities with your kicker, to pin people in certain spots whether it's a kickoff or a punt - there's no doubt it that's an advantage. Didn't think we played our absolute best in general in the kicking game last week, which we'll try to improve on, but Daniel [Carlson] obviously went out there and converted the scoring opportunities and had the big kick there in the third quarter. It gives you a lot of comfort and confidence, and I know our team has a ton of confidence in both those guys."

Q: With a guy like Kyler [Murray] who is going to look to run and try to make some plays with his leg. How much more does the defense have to be locked in?

Coach McDaniels: "Every play is an opportunity for something bad to happen when Kyler [Murray] is on the other side. This guy is a special, special player, and there's not many players in the league that are like him and certainly not many that I've coached against. First of all, I think the number one thing I would say about him is he's a really good passer. He can read the defense, he can get the ball to all levels of the field, he can make every throw, he's very accurate. So that in its own is a tough challenge. Then you combine that with his ability to either run the ball on designed runs or RPOs or zone read, and then every pass play could potentially be a loose play. So, he forces you to be absolutely on top of all your P's and Q's, and you can't take plays off and can't relax because if you do, generally he makes you pay for it. He's an exceptional player. This will be a huge challenge. Excited to have the opportunity to compete against him, but this guy is a really, really good football player.”

Q: You mentioned coaching with a player like Randy Moss - what are some of the comparisons between a player like Randy Moss and Davante Adams?

Coach McDaniels: "They're different players, totally. I think the comparison would be that the other team - again, I said it before - gets a vote in terms of how they're defended. So, when you have a player that is a very exceptional route runner and can factor in the passing game like that, each team will figure out what they want to try to do, if they want to try to do anything different to try to limit his production overall. And so, the tough thing about that is you may watch 5-6-7-8 games of a defense defending other teams and all of a sudden, you're putting your scouting report together and it says that they major in these three things, but are they really going to major in those three things against you sometimes? We had to learn that a long time ago when we were dealing with that. You have to learn how to adjust during the course of the game, because what you see might not be what everybody else saw and vice versa. They blitzed the Chiefs a ton last week, whether they blitz us or not, I don't know that. We're all going to find out together. But at some point in the game last week, they started double teaming Tae [Davante Adams] and Hunter [Renfrow], and then other people are going to have to factor. That's just the way it goes."

Q: How do you think the team has accepted your new approach in the way you teach?

Coach McDaniels: "I think they've done an exceptional job. I couldn't be more pleased with the way that they're going about their day to day. What we're trying to do is - and again, we're taking a long view, it's a long season so we want to play our best at the end hopefully - but we're trying to learn from each opportunity, trying to grow. And really what we're trying to do is learn how we need to play each week. Because each team is different. Like clearly we talked about Kyler [Murray] is not the same as Justin [Herbert], and this offense is different than last week's, and this defense is clearly different than last week's defense relative to the philosophy, etc. And so, you just can't hit copy, paste, copy, paste. I mean, that's just not the way I was taught and raised in terms of how to try to win, and they're absolutely gravitating towards, 'What do you need from me this week? How do we need to play this week?' So, I'm very pleased with the effort, the attitude and the approach that our guys come in here with every day. They came in here today and they had watched a lot of film, and they done that on their own. So, you can tell that they're eager to try to find out what our plan is going to be, and I think that in it of itself is a process you go through throughout the whole year. How do we get better at that process? We have to keep getting better. So next Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, will be different than this next Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I'm really excited about the look we see from them in their eyes, the urgency that they have."

Q: Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones didn't get home, but they had some pressures last week. What did you see from Chandler Jones in Week 1, and how will that translate against a more mobile quarterback like Kyle Murray?

Coach McDaniels: "You're right, we got close a handful of times last week. And again, I think we talk about this a lot, our job when we rush the passer is not necessarily to sack the quarterback, but it's to affect him. And I think if you affect him, then you give other people an opportunity to make plays too. If the coverage is doing their job and you're getting close, eventually you're going to get close enough to put him on the ground. I think the pass rush and the pass coverage needs to be very complimentary. This week in particular, you need to do a really good job in both, because if you're undisciplined with the rush, it'll be a problem. And if you give them opportunities to get it out of his hand quickly, then the rush will never have a chance. So, this player is a very unique challenge for everybody. I mean, you put any game on and the pass rush is different against this player than it is against most other quarterbacks, and that's because he deserves that type of recognition and attention. So, they're going to need to be disciplined, the coverage is going to need to be what it needs to be on a given play based on what we choose to do, and work together the entire time, every time they throw the ball no doubt."

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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