Josh McDaniels Final Thoughts: Raiders vs. Chiefs

Coach Josh McDaniels' entire final thoughts on the Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs

HENDERSON, Nev.--Moments ago Josh McDaniels spoke here at the team headquarters and gave his final thoughts and public analysis of the Las Vegas Raiders versus the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Raiders understand that after a slow 0-3 start, they can ride the momentum of a victory last week versus AFC West foe the Denver Broncos into Arrowhead Stadium.

You can watch his entire interview below, and read the transcript:

Head Coach Josh McDaniels

Q: You guys made a couple of transactions yesterday. One of them was waiving Tyron Johnson and adding Albert Wilson to the practice squad. What went into that?

Coach McDaniels: “Well, I think we have to wait a few days here to kind of settle it all out because I mean it hasn't cleared through waivers and all the rest of it. So, we'll kind of see how that goes and end up deciding ultimately what we need to do relative to the roster and the practice squad next week. But with some of the injuries right now that we have and some of the guys that are potentially coming back here, we have to have some flexibility here a little bit relative to Monday night. So, can bring up two guys and elevate them, but we also may need maybe a third guy. The roster spot right now, currently we're at 52, gives us an opportunity if we needed to, to bring another guy on the roster and elevate a couple guys. So, just needed a little bit of flexibility right now in the short term. Again, those are always difficult decisions in terms of what to do and who to do it with. So, like I said, we'll see how it plays out here the next few days."

Q: How beneficial was the extra day with Monday Night Football when you have some guys trying to come back from injuries?

Coach McDaniels: “Very. I mean, you don't get it much. Obviously, this is usually a onetime shot. Maybe some teams play twice on it. But one time a year you get this eight-day window and anybody that's nursing anything, I'd say on both sides, is probably helpful. Just gives us an extra opportunity here to try to get some treatment and some rest, and then also potentially get some practice time with those guys. I know a lot of our guys are getting close, the guys that are kind of battling through some things. So, hopefully it'll help us here in the next 48 hours."

Q: With your resume, clearly, you’ve played in a lot of big games as a coach. But I'm curious, does it ever get old, Monday Night Football on the road against the team's biggest rival?

Coach McDaniels: “No, no it doesn't. You'll hear the music today. I mean, look, it is what it is. It's a special event. At the same time, you say, well it's another regular season game, it is. But I think when we were all young, you probably watched some Monday Night Football growing up. You heard the music, you got a little excited when it was your team, your hometown team, or whatever it was playing. I'm sure that you were excited to watch that. So, you don't get this opportunity much, and to have it be a division opponent on the road and have it be the Chiefs in specific, I think that there's definitely will be some adrenaline, no question. You have to manage that a little bit, but I hope our guys are really excited. If what I see from them is any indication, I'm sure we will be. Excited to perform, excited to compete and excited to play in this atmosphere this one time."

Q: How tough was it to lose Justin Herron? It looked like he played a pretty major role on Sunday for your run game especially.

Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, that's unfortunate. It's obviously a part of the game, but just to get him in here a couple weeks ago when we did, and really, he kind of got acclimated last week and got in there and helped us a little bit as the jumbo tight end. Was going to be able to compete and help us at tackle as well, so feel bad for him. Just unfortunate that those things obviously occur in football. I'm sure he'll aggressively pursue the rehab and do the right things here, and we'll look forward to getting him back."

Q: The Chiefs have a strong defensive front seven, and even for a rookie, George Karlaftis has played really sound. What have you seen from him that jumps out on film?

Coach McDaniels: “Obviously, we evaluated him in the draft, too. He's got a great motor, great effort. He's not a guy that has just one pass rush move. Plays physical in the running game. He's an aggressive defensive player is what he is, and very versatile. And again, you're going to have to play the play to its completion against them. You can say that about a lot of their defensive linemen, they play with great effort. Coach [Steve] Spagnuolo does a great job of getting those guys ready to go. He's really starting to come on and we're aware of him and we'll know where he's going to be, and we're going to have to do a good job of blocking him all night.”

Q: There's a lot of moving pieces but Blake Martinez comes to the practice squad and then the active roster. How much does his familiarity with Patrick Graham's system kind of help that process?

Coach McDaniels: "Yeah, it helps. There's really no shortcut. If you are bringing somebody in that doesn't have much exposure to what your terminology is, there's a process that has to take place before you can really put him in there and give him a fair chance to go out there and execute. So, the fact that Blake is familiar with the terminology is obviously a big help in that process, and he's working really hard to hopefully be ready if he's needed. But some people come from a background where they don't have any familiarity, and some people obviously have some, so it's definitely an assist to us in the process when we do."

Q: You're obviously laying the foundation for year and in the locker room this week, two different guys mentioned they're not approaching this week any different than last after a win or loss. Are you happy with how your guys are learning the culture that you're trying to install?

Coach McDaniels: "Yeah, I am. And again, I go back to this and ultimately it will be their culture. Regardless of what I say, or what our coaches may say, or want us to do, at the end of the day, it's really what they're going to believe in. And the only thing we've said is, we think it's the right approach to each week have the same urgency, same attention to detail, same work ethic, same attitude and put the same amount into it, regardless of what happened the game before. And I think, just in general terms, that's the way we would approach most things in our lives. We had a good day, well, let's come back and have another good day. And not let our guard down and relax and have a bad day, and then try to have a motivational speech the next morning to have a better practice the day after. So, we're just trying to keep it here and stay as consistent as we can. I think they've really done a good job with their approach and the work that they're putting in. And again, last week, a lot of urgency. It really wasn't much different than the week before. And okay, we win on Sunday, we come in this week, and really, we want to have the same urgency. And the habit we want to create is a really good seven-day cycle of you evaluate what happened, be self-critical, learn from it, figure out how we can get better, and then go and attack the next week the same way. And hopefully, if you stack a bunch of weeks on top of each other, in December and January, you're playing your best football and that's the goal."

Q: When you look at the Chiefs run defense, they're really stout, allowed the fewest yards in the league, however you guys are really running the ball very well right now. When you look at them, what makes their run defense good, and does that change anything in your philosophy with Josh Jacobs?

Coach McDaniels: “They're a good defense in general. First, they play with good technique and fundamentals. You can see that jumps off the tape, use their hands well and try to close the space as much as they can in the running game. They challenge it with some different looks, there's going to be some pressures that you're going to have to deal with in a running game, there's some moving bodies in there when they do that. And at the same time, I think one of the things that they've done an incredible job of is they get off to a good start and then they don't have to play as many runs because the game flips a little bit on them. So complementary football is obviously going to be a big part of this game. You look at a couple games this year that they've played in, and they've been up two or three touchdowns in the first half. So, offensively it's difficult to maintain your balance as long as you'd like to. So being able to get off to a good start and trying to keep the game where we want it is going to be important for us to maintain our balance and try to stick in enough runs that we can eventually try to churn out a few yards. There's not going to be any shortcuts with this one. We're going to have to play well as a group here on Monday night to be able to do that."

Q: Derek Carr has been on this team for almost twice as long as any other guy if you round up a little bit. When you came in what kinds of things or what have you seen from him in terms of being sort of a carrier of institutional knowledge of the franchise? And you talked a little bit about culture, but just wanted to see about him.

Coach McDaniels: "Yeah, he's seen a lot of things, and he has a lot of experiences that he shares with his teammate, shared with some of us. He's played these division games for almost a decade now, and I think that's all helpful, I really do. When you're learning about the culture that was here and the history and the tradition of this organization, you can talk to Mr. Davis, but then when you look at other people whether it's Derek [Carr] or Marcel Reece, or there's some other people that have been able to help some of us just really learn about some of the things that are important here. We're coming from a different place, but at the end of the day we're all Raiders, and so the people that have that significant history, I mean I think he's been super willing to share with us, and I know how important it is for him to really play in these games and win. He's been a great leader for us, unselfish, and obviously he's helped a lot of people in this organization for a long time."

Q: Does Maxx Crosby plan to travel with you guys?

Coach McDaniels: “I’m really hoping so. I mean, yeah, the plans are for sure. Again, I’m not an expert in giving birth and everything else. (laughter). However that goes, it goes. So, whenever the baby decides it’s time, then we’ll have to make a decision on that. Look, I think obviously that comes first, and that’s an experience he’ll neve get back. So, we’ll see how it goes and we’ll do what we have to do as a football team.”

Q: How many times a day are you checking your texts to see if you got any news from Maxx?

Coach McDaniels: “He’s right here. I called him last night and just asked how it was going, if they are eating spicy food or whatever helps, right? Bouncing on the ball.”

Q: What did you guys see out of Albert Wilson when you brought him in for a tryout?

Coach McDaniels: “Had a good preseason. Albert’s been a guy who’s done some really good things with the ball in his hands, is a tough runner, smart guy. Obviously has been productive throughout his career in different phases. Played for some different teams and different systems. So, he’s just a guy that we feel like gives us an opportunity to at least if we needed somebody when we dropped Tyron [Johnson], to have an opportunity to have a guy here that if we needed him in a pinch, we could do it. And looking forward to working with him, really am. A really good person, excited to be here. Brings a lot of energy and juice. Have an opportunity to see how that goes here going forward.”

The Las Vegas Raiders travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Kansas City Chiefs next. That game is on Monday, Oct. 10, and it can be seen on ESPN. The game starts at 8:15 p.m. EDT/5:15 p.m. PDT.

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