Raiders DC Graham Browns Week

Las Vegas Raiders DC Patrick Graham spoke moments ago from the team headquarters ahead of the Silver and Black hosting the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.

Las Vegas Raiders DC Patrick Graham / Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated

HENDERSON, Nev.—The Las Vegas Raiders (1-2) are a team desperately trying to find their identity as they prepare to host the Cleveland Browns (1-2) this weekend.

Moments ago, DC Patrick Graham addressed the media here at the team headquarters, and we have the entire press conference for you to watch below:

On Wednesday, Coach Antonio Pierce addressed the media, and here is a transcript of what he said:

Q: As a coach, when you think about what kind of game that we saw on Sunday, are you curious on what the reaction is going to be, and do you have a sense of what your team's reaction is going to be?

Coach Pierce: “Ready to work, new week, 24-hour rule, you move on, you watch the film on Monday. It's a new week, another opportunity."

Q: You mentioned making decisions. Have you made decisions?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, it's in-house."

Q: Coaches, players, everyone talks about the 24-hour rule all the time, but is it harder sometimes than other times?

Coach Pierce: “Yeah, to be honest. Yeah, it is. But it's early in season, Week 3. There's no panic button. We're not throwing out our parachutes and jumping off the plane. We're good. It was a loss and it was a tough loss, and we move on."

Q: When you make personnel decisions, do you leave that primarily up to your coordinators, or how does that work? I'm thinking about specifically - Jackson Powers-Johnson goes in for Dylan Parham and not over for Cody Whitehair. Is that a Luke Getsy decision? Is that yours? How does that work?

Coach Pierce: “Everybody. There's more thought into that, and it'll show probably this week."

Q: How was the meeting with the players? I know you can't share too much, but did it go well you felt like?

Coach Pierce: “It was a meeting between the coaches and the players, like we always do on a Monday."

Q: To have someone like Christian Wilkins who came out and spoke about how important that 24-hour rule was, and most importantly, spoke about their mind game being strong, especially after a loss like that. How important is it to have someone like him, being new to the team, to be able to share that with the younger players?

Coach Pierce: “You want more of that, right? You want more guys speaking like that. We always talk about mental toughness. You always hear coaches talking about adversity and opportunity and character and all those key words. That's just me talking. It's different when it comes from a player, when it resonates in the locker room, when it resonates in the meeting room, when it resonates in the practice so, obviously, for him to step up, that's huge. And it's not even about being a newcomer. He's a pro. He's a pro's pro. And the more of those guys you can have that can handle grown man decisions and grown man ass whoopings, the better you'll be as a team."

Q: You mentioned before about how the defense performs when Maxx Crosby is not at his very best, and he's a little hobbled. Is that a big challenge that you put out to the team this this week?

Coach Pierce: “Yeah. I mean, we knew that going to last week. I mean, but at the end of the day, man, listen, Maxx [Crosby] gave us everything he has. He's done that each and every week since I've been here, when I was watching from afar, you can never question his passion, his desire and his will to win for the Raiders organization. That just needs to be matched amongst the rest of the team and the defense. And I think this is another week for a great opportunity for guys to step up with Maxx [Crosby], and we'll see what happens."

Q: What'd you see from Tyree Wilson last week, and what's the next step for Tyree?

Coach Pierce: “Just again, reps. He just hasn't played a lot of football. Here one week, not here the next week for two weeks, and we get them back, limited reps. So it'll be really good. Practice is really good for him. The more practice reps we can get for him, the more he's comfortable in the game, the more he sees it. It's muscle memory and it's also visual memory, right? So the more he sees that, the better he'll become, and the better player he'll be."

Q: When it comes to the run game, is it more changing the scheme, more just practicing what you already do, getting them at better what they do, or do you actually look at the scheme itself?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, well you've always got to start with the scheme and how you're coaching, and how you are coaching the technique throughout the week. And what are you showing the players? Are you hitting the top three runs, top five runs, or are you showing everything that they do, right? At the end of the day, most teams don't have a plethora of runs, right? There's a handful of runs and you know that go into the game what you need to stop. Now there's adjustments that need to be made, because schematically, you might say, 'Look, this is a better front versus our coverage to bring a safety down or bring a pressure.' But I think it goes into a little bit of both when you ask that question. It's scheme, it's technique, it's players, and there's adjustments."

Q: How do you describe that learning curve, going from the power to mostly the zone this year?

Coach Pierce: "I mean, we're watching it firsthand. You guys are seeing it, right? It's a learning curve, and we're still going through the process and at the end of the day, you can be a scheme team, you could be a player-driven team, you could be a 'what works' team. And we need to become what works for the Raiders."

Q: I'd like to follow up on a question I asked you Monday about attacking offense, and you referenced going down the field. But specifically when you look at third down situations, if it's third and five throwing it three yards, would you like to see them go more past the sticks when they're trying to attack?

Coach Pierce: "That's a little bit of execution too. We're not drawing too many plays where we're short of the sticks. So you call a play, you've got to execute it as well. Little bit of both."

Q: Last week you said Thursday was one of the best practices you had, and then Sunday happened. Will you know before Sunday if this team is locked in and you'll see a different team this Sunday than you did last Sunday? Or will we have to wait till this Sunday?

Coach Pierce: "I did, I said it, everybody in the building felt it on Thursday. So, I'm not going to go back against my words. It was, it really was. There weren’t any balls on the ground, it was clean execution, the speed was up, the tempo, the energy, the execution. We got the looks, there wasn't a lot of draw up the play to make it work. We compete on Thursdays with our scout team. So, there weren’t no gimmes. Friday was a good day. Saturday was a good day. Sunday was a bad day."

Q: Do you think the team will be ready before Sunday?

Coach Pierce: "I won't make any predictions like I did last week. I promise you that. I'm going to leave that alone."

Q: Isaiah Pola-Moa and his preparation and being able to step into the role with Marcus Epps, what can you say to him as a player, and his level of confidence in doing so?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, I think over the last three years or so now for him he's played over 200 plus snaps on defense. Played a lot as a rookie, a lot of different positions. We moved him around, and last year did the same thing, filled in. I remember the first game where we had him in on in a package against Miami Dolphins. First play in the second half, he intercepted the ball and he's been around the ball quite a bit. Really good special teams player, and he's really been that third safety for us, so there's been roles for him. Either hasn't shown up in the game or in practice that we've repped a lot. So, we feel very confident to be honest with Isaiah [Palo-Moa]. I thought he was ready to take the next step this year anyway, but we really felt good with Marcus Epps and Tre'von [Moerhig] that okay, we got two solid starters there. Now, obviously with the injury with Marcus, next man up mentality. But again, it's no flinch, no blinking. Really feel confident about what Isaiah could do going forward and looking forward to him today in practice."

Q: How much does that hurt with Marcus Epps being out because he did so much communicating?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah that's a good question, right? That's a good point because he did. You got Spil [Robert Spillane] up there in the front seven, so really between Tre'von [Moerhig] and Isaiah [Pola-Moa], those two gentlemen have to step up. I'm not going to throw it all on Isaiah. We're not going to do that; we're not going to do that with Tre'von either. I think mutually though, they need to have their own and own their role on what they need to communicate."

Q: What do you see from Deshaun Watson, and how do you think your defense can properly execute gameplan and tackle?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, I mean not going to judge on how he's played, but I've seen some really good throws last week out there on the perimeter, both to Amari Cooper. The deep ball is there, obviously the ability to scramble, to run, to extend the plays. That's something we’re going to have to work on again this week, no different than against like a Lamar Jackson type, a guy that can move in the pocket. But listen, he's played a lot of football, and when he's on, he's on. You saw that in Jacksonville, and then late in the game, obviously, against the Cowboys when they needed to come back, and he was moving the ball and moving the chains. So, he's somebody that's a threat you got respect for National Football League. At any given moment he can make plays."

Q: Just curious on Divine Deablo, I know he missed Sunday's game. Is he on track to be able to get back to practice?

Coach Pierce: "No, he won't practice today."

Q: You mentioned obviously last week you felt you had good practices. From your experience as a player, what goes into translating that to gameday?

Coach Pierce: "Well gameday, if you think about it, come Saturday you're just putting those little final touches on it. As a coaching staff, you get with the players, you've got a meeting for about an hour and a half that night. The hay is in the barn, right? The players go play, the coaches make the calls and make the adjustments. I think, like all of us, I felt that game after the first drive, like this is not how we expected it. It was a little shock, and I think it shocked all of us. And then the thing that I talked about, just the way we responded wasn't up to par. So again, trying not to make predictions on how we go throughout the week, because if I told you the truth, Baltimore was a bad week, but I can't say that. So listen man, my thing is make sure I do a better job of delivering the message Saturday night and then Sunday before the team goes on the field of what we need to do and how we need to play and the style of play to execute for 60 minutes."

Q: What impact has it had not having Champ Kelly as GM after you guys seemed to click last year?

Coach Pierce: "I talk to Champ [Kelly] every day to be honest. I talk to Champ every day, I talk to [Tom] Telesco every day. I talk to everybody in our personnel department every day. I damn near talk to everybody in the building every day if I see you. So, there's no lack of communication, lack of chemistry or anything like that. No, we're fine. I mean, we all have our roles, and you've got to play your role."

Q: You mentioned physical practices potentially this week. How do you balance that with needing to be ready and healthy on Sunday?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, I mean last week we walked through last week. We did two walk throughs instead of practicing, no pads. Then we go out there on Thursday and we had shells on and running around with helmets and t-shirts and stuff like that. But it was already on schedule for us to go. I mean this is a team that we felt coming into it when we looked at our schedule, they run the ball, they do a really good job running the ball. They're physical, they give you a lot of different looks. The head coach is a really good offensive coordinator, he does a hell of a job putting it together, him and Ken Dorsey. So this was a week anyway we have pads on. And I really judge it off our health. If we're healthy enough to go out there and put pads on, we'll do it. If we're not, then we don't. And last week, we just felt with the travel, being nicked up at certain positions, we can get more reps and more opportunities having those gentlemen in walk through."

Q: After watching Jackson Powers-Johnson’s film, do you feel like he did enough to earn more time?

Coach Pierce: “Yes, he did.”

Q: Is there an update on Thayer Munford and his health?

Coach Pierce: “He won't practice today.”

Q: Will Myles Garrett play? Coach Pierce: “He plays for the Cleveland Browns.”

Q: What jumps out when you watch Myles Garrett?

Coach Pierce: “Scary. He's a good player, defense player of the year, right? Really good football player. Like, it's impressive. You watched a couple of those runs against the Giants last week, and he is just wrecking shop. Like, it's two guys on him and it doesn't matter. They chip him, doesn't matter. Run away from him, he chases it down. We see this every day with Maxx [Crosby]. We hardly ever see that, like this effort and this physicality from another player. So, obviously, all hands-on deck, and we need multiple hands on him. But a really good player and ultimate respect for how he plays the game. He does a lot for their team. He gets them going, he's a disrupter and he's a game wrecker.”

Q: If Thayer Munford can’t go this week, how much confidence you have in DJ Glaze based off what you saw?

Coach Pierce: “I thought DJ did a really good job. I know he gave up a sack, but for the most part he was going up against [Jadeveon] Clowney, who's a guy who's a number one pick and has a career of making tackles look bad. And I thought for the most part, for not getting all the reps in the week of practices, especially like a young guy, I go back to what we saw in training camp, somebody that just when you threw them in, ‘Okay, DJ’s in.’ It was one of those moments, even in some key calls in the game where we had a run game called and they were doing stunts, and he didn't get those reps, and he reacted perfectly to it. So, extremely confident. Listen, we were itching to get him in the game at some point. It was going to happen last week. It just happened because Munford got injured.”

Q: Is Decamerion Richardson on track to start practicing again?

Coach Pierce: “No, he probably won't play this week either.”

Q: When we asked about the quarterback situation on Monday, you said there was conversations that you still were going to have?

Coach Pierce: “No, I think what I said was, I need to get with the players and evaluate the film, so there's no issue. Gardner Minshew is the quarterback.”

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