Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast Talks Importance of a Fast Start for the Silver and Black

Our latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast discusses the urgency of getting Raider Nation off to a fast start for the 2024 season.

Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers / Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated

The Las Vegas Raiders are heading to Los Angeles this weekend for the season's first game, where they will take on the Los Angeles Chargers.

As always, we will be there.

The Silver and Black are two days from their first game week of the season, and Raider Nation hopes that all of the offseason hard work will be rewarded with 2024 success.

Friday is the last day of the week for media availability in the NFL when a game is on Sunday, and we have enormous coverage for you.

Our latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast digs into the urgency of a fast start for Raider Nation to the 2024 season.

You can watch the entire podcast below:

In addition to the above video, below is a transcript of everything Graham said:

Q: Early look at the Chargers, obviously it's a very different coaching staff, some different personnel. What have you seen from them and how do you prepare?

Coach Graham: "First off, thank you for being here, it's good to see you guys doing well. The thing that you do in terms of preparing is you look at the players first. The NFL is about the players, pay attention to those guys. Then you look at the scheme next to see what's changed. I know they've brought in a lot of energy there, and particularly from my side of the ball I'm dealing with offense. [Greg] Roman does a great job, I mean I haven't been lucky against the two times I faced him as a play caller, and they do a great job. You know there's going be an element of toughness, that's through the head coach, that's through their coaching staff. And the players, you can see they're buying into the culture that they're trying to bring there. You can see it on tape, the toughness, wanting to run the ball, and you hear it throughout the interviews, and hear them talk about it. So, I'm sure they're happy with it, and they're probably just as excited as us for the game on Sunday."

Q: Christian Wilkins, what sort of impact does he have for you guys in the defensive room?

Coach Graham: "He's a great leader. I think he was a leader when he was a rookie in his own way. Now he's had success in this league, and you can see his leadership skills, how he's matured, not saying he was immature before, but how he's matured over time. And I know this, the players gravitate to him, coaching staff gravitates to him. He's doing a good job for us. I'm sure he's excited."

Q: Yesterday, Christian Wilkins said that there's a good synergy building between the defensive unit. What have you seen the cohesion of your guys and how they're really picking up things this year?

Coach Graham: “Synergy and cohesion? I like cohesion. Synergy, I've never been a fan of that word, I don't know why. I've just never been a fan. But they spend a lot of time together, and they have honest conversations with one another. I know that we've done a better job as coaches of getting to know them. I know I have. I can speak for myself personally. I'm spending more time with them, whether it's in the cafeteria, whether it's just sending more texts, whatever it is. I think the reason why we have the cohesion and the word you used, is because we spent a lot of time talking to each other and we're honest with one another."

Q: Obviously, Antonio Pierce is familiar with him, and you also coached him in New York, but Darnay Holmes, what went to the thought process of bringing him in? And what do you think of him as a player? Coach Graham: "Specifically, you'd have to ask Tom [Telesco] and AP [Antonio Pierce], but we're always welcome for good players. The fact that he has a familiarity with our defense, that helps. I've known him since he was a rookie, he's a smart, diligent worker, works hard out there on the field, can tackle, can cover, can do a bunch of things, play special teams. So, all that stuff in terms of the checklist I just went through, I mean that's a good defensive football player. You like to have those guys around."

Q: Coach Jim Harbaugh has talked a lot about running the ball. He's known for his team being run first, what do you think of that approach in today's game where it's thought of as a pass league first? What's going to be the key for the defense to have success in the run defense?

Coach Graham: "I think it's smart. All the teams that win, it comes down to whether you want to start at the beginning of the season, how you're trying to establish your identity during training camp, or when you get to the money games, like the championship games the Super Bowl. You got to be able to run the ball. You're not going to be able to advance in January without being able to run the ball. So, I think it's a smart decision to make sure that's at the forefront of what they're talking about. Because if you can't stop the run on defense, I mean, it's going to be a long day. I mean, the coordinator could call anything, and that's the worst fear as a defensive play caller. But I think it's smart. And in order to be tough, you got to be able to run the ball and you got to be able to stop the ball. So, I know toughness is a big part of what they're preaching and that makes sense to me, and he's been successful doing it."

Q: Looks like Tre'von Moehrig took a big step forward last year, we've seen him make a lot of plays at training camp and in the preseason this year. What do you think has gone into that decision for him as a defender?

Coach Graham: "Like most professional athletes, they make a decision. I mean again, he can learn about the curl flat on all 32 teams. He can learn about playing man-to-man coverage on all 32, I mean we're not doing rocket science here. I mean, maybe a little tweak here and there, but it's the personal decision to say, 'Okay, I'm a professional football player, I really don't have anything else to do. I don't have schoolwork to worry about. All I got to do is get better at my craft.,' and that's a decision those guys make on their own. And I'm just proud of how he's progressed throughout the years I've been around him. And I'm looking forward to seeing him play on Sunday."

Q: In your opinion, where do you think Tre'von Moehrig has made the biggest strides in his game?

Coach Graham: "Communication. We just have walk through just now, and just for him to correct somebody without hesitation, wasn't waiting for a coach to do it, just went over there and did that, I love seeing stuff like that. Because, for whatever reason, it brings you back to maybe something earlier in the process, like two years ago. So, that's always cool for me. I tell them all the time, I said, 'You guys make my day, keep me young.' He made my day when little moments like that, it was probably nothing to him, but it was a big deal to me."

Q: How much of a luxury is it, I guess, to have seven linebackers on a 53-man roster? C

oach Graham: "I like having seven good football players. It could be linebackers, D-line, whatever. I don't know if it's a luxury, I just like having good football players. So again, the roster, how it's constructed, that's between Tom [Telesco] and AP [Antonio Pierce], and the more good football players we have, the better off we'll be. And I love having – it gives you some variety, I guess."

Q: How's that cohesion between the linebackers and the other guys?

Coach Graham: "It's good. I mean, when you have Spill [Robert Spillane] as your leader, and [Divine] Deablo in there, those are pretty good leaders right there, good communicators. I'm sure they eat and hang out with one another and things of that nature. Out there on the field, they have to talk by nature, they have to talk because they're playing the linebacker position, they have to talk to one another. But I'm not going to keep using it. I mean, well, you didn't say synergy, but we're going overboard with this cohesion thing. It's a football team."

Q: He doesn't get talked about much, but he's coming off one of the best seasons of his career. What is next, in your opinion, for John Jenkins?

Coach Graham: "Improve every day, one percent, just try to get better every day. Again, John [Jenkins] is a professional, he's been doing it for a long time. I bet you that's all he's worried about, he's worried about winning on Thursday today. Anytime we have personal goals, I'm sure. I will never share my personal goals with you guys, I'm sure he's not going to share his personal goals with you. But really, the main thing is just to get better every day. That's all I can ask those guys to do. So, we have Thursday practice, we're focused on third down and early down, and we'll see, we'll go from there."

Q: I assume when you watch a lot of Greg Roman offenses in the past, you've said you've gone against him, there's been a lot of mobile quarterbacks. Justin Herbert isn't necessarily known for that, but he's capable of it. I guess how do you kind of factor in whether he might be used more in the run game and what they plan to do with him?

Coach Graham: "I mean, just refer back to the third down and nine last year, I mean, he took off. So, he looks pretty mobile to me. So again, you all ask me this all the time. I factor in everything; I don't have anything else to do. I mean, he can move, he can move, so we have to prepare for everything. I don't know what they're going to do. That's the beauty of Week One; a little angst, anxiety, nervousness, whatever you want to call it. But that's the beauty of Week One. Everybody's going through it right now; the game tonight, they're going through it. They don't know what they're going to do, but we get to play football."

Q: When Antonio Pierce took over last year, there was a real marked increase in improved play on the defense. I'm wondering, this year, how do you plan to build on that? It seems like this year's narrative is that the defense is the strength of the team, do you believe in that as well?

Coach Graham: "I don't get caught up in narratives. The thing I try to do, and I live my life by this, is just try to get better every day. And because of last year, I mean, last year was last year. Maybe it gives us a starting point in terms of communication, cohesion – last time I'm using it, okay? But in terms of for 2024, we had to start from ground zero in terms of getting our fundamentals, schematically what we're going to do. I think going into this year, it's all going to be based on how we perform and how we prepare and practice and how we perform on Sunday. That's the only way we're going to be judged. Nobody's going to care, as soon as Sunday happened, nobody cares about last year. Nobody cares."

Q: What have you seen from Jack Jones in training camp and preseason as far as taking that next step?

Coach Graham: "I was always impressed by his athleticism. So, that was God-given there. In terms of his football IQ, you can see it starting to grow more and more as he gets more plays under his belt. I think just that position right there, you're just going to be able to see more. You see the combinations, you get familiar. Because all the receivers are all the same receivers, aside from the rookies, they're all the same receivers. So, you get familiar with those guys. And then once you figure that out, and you're able to communicate, because now you can say, 'Hey they are in this split. Hey, it is him stacked behind there.' It’s just reminders to your brain for your muscle memory to kick in, to be able to play faster. So you're seeing that."

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