Raiders' Josh McDaniels' Midweek Press Conference
The Las Vegas Raiders (1-1) are returning to the friendly confines of Allegiant Stadium to host their home opener on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1).
The Raiders are coming from a loss at the Buffalo Bills, and there is no shame in that. How they lost, however, by a score of 38-10 has turned the microscope on the Silver and Black.
Today, Coach Josh McDaniels addressed the media for his midweek press conference, and we have it for you.
You can watch it below and read the transcript:
Head Coach Josh McDaniels
Opening Statement... Coach McDaniels: "These are the kind of games -- this is what you do it for, great opponent, two great organizations. The Steelers have done it the right way for a long time. Coach [Mike] Tomlin,for 17 years, I mean he's never had a losing season. I have just so much respect for him and the program that he runs there, the way they do things, how they play, how competitive they are every week, every year. Our team is hard at work learning the things that they do, how they do them, and they do a lot of things well. They've got a lot of really good football players. They can win and beat you in a lot of different ways. They're physical, they're explosive in all three phases. We saw that on Monday night, how they ended up kind of flipping the game around there. And Sunday Night Football, at Allegiant Stadium, I'm excited for our fan base, and our guys are fired up for this opportunity, and we're looking forward to getting out there on the practice field today."
Q: The Steelers organization is one that when you look at the longevity of how they keep things together, fix problems within, don't go freaking out and blowing things up, draft and develop, kind of dabble in free agency a little bit, but mostly it's from within. When you look at the Steelers, and I know you've played them a lot of times in New England, is that the kind of organization that you're aspiring for here?
Coach McDaniels: "I mean, we all want to try to create the kind of culture and team and organization that is competitive year in and year out to compete for championships, and you have to earn that. We're still hard at work at that, and they've earned it. Coach Tomlin, obviously with what he's done with organization, Omar [Khan], their whole crew, they've done it the right way for a long time, they believe in what they're doing and the results have shown that to be true. So for us, we're in the process of trying to get to that point. And again, you only earn it one way, and you've got to have consistent success and you've got to compete and be competitive to win and win at a high-level year in and year out. And I think they've shown that, and that's what we're working toward."
Q: You said that the film would bear out what your thoughts were coming off the Buffalo game, basically the answers are there. Do you feel like the team got the message and you feel like things are a little closer, especially offensively then what they may have appeared by the score?
Coach McDaniels: "NFL games always can be flipped around in five or six plays. I'm not saying that was the only thing we needed to have happen, but we learned from each game we've participated in this year. And again, some lessons are harder to learn than others, and we needed to learn them. The biggest thing is it's a long season, there' are a lot of lessons. You can learn them when you win, you can learn them when you lose, but the most important thing is that you learn them. And so, we're going to find out if we've learned from some of those mistakes that we saw and tried to correct. I think the attitude has been phenomenal. The response has been great. I would never question that from our team anyway. So, we're eager to get out there on the practice field and continue to try to improve."
Q: You always want to get a win no matter what. It it more important to get a win this week because of what happened in Buffalo and to move on from it?
Coach McDaniels: "We try to win every week. I mean, if I came in here and said that, then what would that mean for next week? Like, we can let our guard down and not try as hard or anything like that. So, I understand the question -- we try to win every week. We do everything we can, the players put as much time as they can possibly put in and coaches do the same thing. So, we're going to try to compete and win every week. So, I don't want to make one game bigger than the next, because it kind of has an up and down effect on the season."
Q: What grabbed your attention most from Pittsburgh's win on Monday night?
Coach McDaniels: "They play with such a great effort, regardless of the circumstances in a game. And so, Cleveland obviously out-gained them. I think Cleveland had 80-some plays they ran offensively and Pittsburgh had 50-some. But you're watching the game and you're seeing it and I'm watching all three phases, and just the effort and the tenacity and just every play they're trying to do the right things to flip the game, and ultimately they did. And this is the kind of team that it could be in the return game, it could be on defense, it could be with the pass rush, it could be with a blitz, it could be with a big play to [George] Pickens or [Calvin] Austin or [Pat] Freiermuth or Najee Harris. They have a lot of different ways that they could create explosive plays and turn games around, and you know, just so happened the other day they scored two defensive touchdowns. [T.J.] Watt and [Alex] Highsmith, those are two fitting guys because they're great players. There's a challenge on every play, and you can't let your guard down, you can't stop competing and playing with great effort because you know that's what they're going to do every single play that they're out there, and that's the challenge for us on Sunday night, and we're going to be ready to go."
Q: I know they have 11 guys out there all the time, but as a play-caller how much of a challenge is it to just know where T.J. Watt is and not let him destroy what you want to do. I guess you guys have one as well in Maxx (Crosby), it's kind of similar. So, how does that kind of help in the preparation?
Coach McDaniels: "Yeah, I mean great players demand obviously a lot of attention. They've got more than one, I would say that to start with. They have a lot of guys on that side of the ball who do a really good job. Minkah [Fitzpatrick] has as many interceptions as any safety since he's been in the league, and Patrick Peterson is still doing it at a high level. Both of the edge rushers, they've got interior guys who create problems for you. So, I mean their whole defense, they play really well as a unit. Knowing where they're at isn't always the problem, it's more the execution of it and the detail that you play with and the effort and toughness. So, that's what's going to be demanded Sunday night, so we're going to need to play like that in every phase on every play."
Q: Any update on Jakobi Meyers?
Coach McDaniels: "He'll be out there today. Moving through the protocol the right way. So again, nothing -- we can't declare anything right now, but he'll be out on the practice field today."
Q: We've asked you repeatedly about Chandler Jones. It's a private situation, we understand that, but at what point -- the roster spot is a very valuable thing obviously. At what point does that potentially become an issue where you have to do something?
Coach McDaniels: "Again, there's nothing -- I can't do anything about it at this point. So, we're just respecting that process and understand the situation, and that's really all I can say about it."
Q: Linebacker Robert Spillane coming over from Pittsburgh last year, what did you see kind of from him on film with the Steelers that you knew he'd be ready for an expanded role here, and how has he embraced that and what kind of impact has he had?
Coach McDaniels: "I mean obviously being voted a captain speaks a lot about Robert and just the way he approaches his job every day. He's a physical guy, loves football, every aspect of it, is incredibly tough and durable. He played in a system and a defense that that's what they value. That's what we value, so there's some carryover there in that regard. Just watching him play and playing against him, competing against him. We competed against him last year late in the season, had an opportunity to see that first-hand just his physicality, his toughness, his intelligence, passion for football, the way he plays and competes on every play. They asked a lot of him and so do we. So, we're just fortunate that we have him on our team, excited to continue to grow with him, and obviously our team feels the same way about him."
Q: Any help he can provide this week or not because it's just a different team and there's not much there?
Coach McDaniels: "Yeah, I mean I think obviously there's information that any team has the opportunity to do that if you have a player who might have played somewhere else before. Honestly I'm not sure that there are many games that we play in that we don't have some carryover or somebody who has some familiarity with that. So, you do the best you can, but obviously you take it with a grain of salt because they can do whatever they want to do this week, and I'm sure that they will, whatever they think they need to do to win."
Q: How much did playing that game against them late last season kind of aid in the -- you've already kind of studied them very recently?
Coach McDaniels: "I mean, each year is different. Our team's different now than it was last year, their team is different too. So, that happens every year, and you look back on it, you do your due diligence, you understand the way we played the game, the way they played the game. The conditions obviously were, I would say, significantly different than what they're going to be on Sunday night. So, we did our work. I'm sure they looked at it as well. So, I don't think anybody has an advantage in that regard."
The Silver and Black return home to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 8:20 p.m. EDT/5:20 p.m. PDT.
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