Raiders' DC Patrick Graham's Entire Press Conference Chiefs Week

Las Vegas Raiders DC Patrick Graham's entire press conference ahead of hosting the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.

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

HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders (2-5) are hosting the Super Bowl champions and a perfect 6-0 Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.

The Raiders don’t have time to even think about that. 

This team desperately needs something good to happen. Multiple key players are out due to injury, and the team struggles to stay afloat as the weather is the storm.

WR Jakobi Meyers will return, which is excellent news for the Silver and Black's anemic offense, but is it enough?

It is never easy to face your arch-nemesis, but facing them when weathering a storm outside their attack is brutal.

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham held his regular press conference today, and we have it all for you.

You can watch that press conference in its entirety below:

Below is a transcript of Graham’s entire press conference yesterday:

Q: Could you please talk about the young guys? You’ve got a lot of young guys getting a lot of reps, and just your thoughts on how they're doing?

Coach Graham: "Young guys, it's a young person league. I mean, it's not any different for the other 31 teams, but I like what the guys are doing, they're putting in the work, they're learning the NFL game and transitioning from college to the pros, and transitioning from having limited reps to having some more reps. But I know the guys are trying to make the most out of their opportunity, and they're trying to get better every day. And they're learning from their experience out there on the field, which is the best coaching tool we have aside from practice."

Q: As a defensive coordinator, when you hear people talk about how Patrick Mahomes is not playing as good of football than he has in his career, do you kind of roll your eyes a little bit?

Coach Graham: "Yes, definitely. He is the best player in our league, period, point blank, in my opinion. I mean, to see him from his first year, when he wasn't really starting until the end, and then to what he's done in his career, the way he attacks each season differently. You can see that, there's something that you could tell that he's putting something else on his plate from season to season, regardless of where he's been to the pinnacle, he's won the Super Bowl three times. Okay, what else can I do? You can see the deep ball in terms of, like, that's something that - not that he hasn't been able to throw before, but you can see that they're revisiting that as a focus of their offense, and what he's able to do out there on the grass. I mean, there's nobody else like him in the league in terms of mobility, in terms of arm strength, access to the entire field, getting them in and out of plays, in terms of checking the run game, getting to the right offensive play. He's the best player, in my opinion. No disrespect to all the guys that are playing, but he's the best player in our league, and we’ve got to treat him with that type of respect."

Q: You mentioned the deep ball and obviously now the addition of DeAndre Hopkins to their offense, how much more does that reinforce exactly what you're saying, and how much does that empower Patrick Mahomes coming into this game?

Coach Graham: "Well, usually the way their offense is set up, you're thinking about in threes in terms of how they try to - Coach [Andy] Reed and Coach [Matt] Nagy, they do such a good job of placing guys in their roles. So usually somebody to take the top off of the defense. They have a few guys that could do that, [Mecole] Hardman, they got 84 [Justin Watson], they have the new kid [Xavier] Worthy. They all could take the top off of the defense. Then there's some sort of possession receiver, JuJu [Smith-Schuster] was one of those guys right there. Then you have [Travis] Kelce, which again, they're trying to draw your attention. Whether you're going to double here, you got to double there, or you're going to have two doubles, or sometimes you can have three doubles and rush three. But I just think they do such a good job of utilizing their people. And I'm sure D-Hop [DeAndre Hopkins] is going to come in there, and they're going to find a role for him for the game, but we're just going to have to adjust as the game goes on. But, like the big thing is, you kind of know how their offense is set up, and you don't know how they're going to deploy the people each play, and you don't know how it's going to be from week to week, but they do such a great job. I know they know their personnel really well. And Coach Reid and Coach Nagy do a great job of putting them in the right spots all the time."

Q: You play Patrick Mahomes twice a year. Do you try and still find ways to surprise him? Or are you trying to just hit on your strengths? What's your approach?

Coach Graham: "You've got to do what you do to a certain extent, but you can't - I mean, you've got to be careful of giving him the answers. I mean, he's that level of quarterback, elite in terms of the mental part of it. It's no different than going against Tom Brady and those guys in terms of they've had so many reps, they've accumulated so many reps over the years. If they see it and they know, you're probably in trouble. So, the point is to probably disguise to a certain extent, and then fake a disguise to a certain extent. But the best thing you could do against him is try to limit the run game. We've got to do better. Still haven't really done that the way we wanted to this year yet. You've got to eliminate the run game and then from there defend the deep part of the field. And then when they do get the ball to their skill players, you've got to tackle them. And then find a way to affect the quarterback and affect the people trying to protect him, the offensive line."

Q: Patrick Mahomes, when it comes to his ability to get off script and improvise, how difficult is that for a defense and what do you think you can do to try and force ill-advised throws?

Coach Graham: "The main thing is trying to simulate it in practice. A lot goes into it with the show team. And again, it's not him and it's not their skill guys, but thankful of the work our show team and the offensive coaches that coach the show team, what they give us during practice. Yesterday they did some of the scramble drills. We're going to do a scramble drill today before the start of practice. That's important, just when you're doing the prep, and then as you're watching the tape, it's about discipline. You have discipline with the rush lanes. You have discipline with your deep field coverage. You have discipline when they do move and he's on the move of getting your eyes on your man or in zone plastering your area. So, it's a big discipline thing. And then the other part is the simulation of it in practice."

Q: Going back to what you were talking about with DeAndre Hopkins, I mean obviously you know what his strengths are, you've watched plenty of him. You know what they like to do and how they like to deploy guys. Do you try to guess what they're going to do? You said you're going to adjust during the game, but going in, is it like, 'We think this might be how they're going use him?'

Coach Graham: "As a coach, part of it as the prep is an educated guess. So, through the film study, the history with the offensive coordinator and the history of the team you're trying to figure out, you take an educated guess where they're going to plug him into the offense. That's the best I can tell you on that. So, before the game we will have a educated guess and go from there, see what they do. But I mean again, D Hop [DeAndre Hopkins] has been so productive in this league over his career. I hope he doesn't mind me using his nickname, but I mean he's a problem. He's a problem, and he's a proven producer in this league. And we've just got to figure out when he's out there, we've got to know where he's at and address him accordingly."

Q: Can you talk about Matthew Butler? Adam Butler's really taken him under his wing, mentored him. Just your thoughts of his growth?

Coach Graham: "I think he's displayed a lot of resiliency in terms of the ups and downs of being on the roster, off the roster, practice squad, blah, blah, blah, all that stuff like that. The growth he's made on the field starting mainly with -- young D-linemen, no matter how good they were, they were in the SEC, they were usually kicking everybody's ass for the most part, because not everybody was an NFL player. And once you get to here and you're dealing with grown men and professionals who know how to block, you've got to learn how to use your hands more efficiently, you've got to get your eyes in the right place, you've got to have some patience when you're dealing with one of 32 in terms of the backs. You start throwing off blocks too early in this league, it's a problem. There's only 32 of those humans back there on the planet. So, you do that, he's probably going to win that battle, you know what I mean? So, you've got to learn that. But he's definitely shown some resiliency in terms of his mental toughness to get through all the different ups and downs. And then just, he put a lot of work in practice, pre-practice, post-practice. He's just been working his butt off to improve those fundamental elements I talked about."

Q: You guys have been pretty good at limiting yardage this year, but once teams make it down into the red zone, it's been a little bit of an issue. What do you think's kind of been missing in that area?

Coach Graham: "Got to finish. Flo [Brian Flores] used to say all the time, 'If you're down in the red area, something messed up happened.' And that's where, again, myself as the play caller, getting us in the right call. The players, there's got to be a certain level of resiliency that has to show up down there in the red area. It starts with stopping the run, and I've got to do a better job with that in terms of getting that coached up and getting us in the right calls. And then from there, you're trying to force them to pass the ball down there and force them because the windows are tighter. So, we again, the first thing, it starts with stopping the run down there. That's what I've got to do a better job of."

Q: As far as turnovers go, obviously, the team has only three this season. Is there a stronger emphasis on it going up against Patrick Mahomes with everything that's been happening in his previous games?

Coach Graham: "I mean, a tipped ball that goes to the D-lineman. I mean, this guy's the most skilled in our league. But there's an emphasis on turnovers every week. There's emphasis on turnovers every week. And the thing is, we're praising the habit, and we'll get more production at some point. But I don't know if there's a greater emphasis. If you could steal possession from the Chiefs, that's ideal, because they're so good at whether it's scoring in five plays, or they could score in 12 plays. If you steal possessions, hopefully you're taking away some points. Because, I mean they're a pretty good offensive group."

Q: You've also gone against Travis Kelce a lot. Have you seen any similarities between him and Brock Bowers already?

Coach Graham: "I mean, the ball gets thrown to him a lot. I wouldn't do that to Brock [Bowers]. I mean, this guy [Travis] Kelce is a Hall of Famer. Aside from him and Gronk [Rob Gronkowski], I don't know who we're talking about since I've been in the league, I don’t want the older guys coming at me. But in terms of what I've seen, Gronk and Kelce, I mean, two pretty dynamic tight ends, and that's unfair to do that to Brock. I mean, these guys got championships, they got multiple All Pros. I mean Brock, I know this, Brock works his butt off to get better every day and he's made the most of his opportunities so far. But I wouldn't do that to Brock, not me."  

Q: With the emphasis on protecting quarterbacks, you've seen Patrick Mahomes kind of takes advantage of that when he's running down the sideline, you saw that last week with the 49ers. How much of a point of emphasis is it to remind defenders, “Hey, if he's live, he's live, but at the same time, don't make an unnecessary hit on him, too.” I mean, how fine is that line?

Coach Graham: "It's a fine line. You got to do business as business is being done. And you got to be smart, especially when you're dealing with the quarterback position. You’ve got to lower your target. You got to be careful around the sideline. But it's a fine line. But it's still football, and we all knew the rules before we signed up. They didn't change the rule book right before the game or anything like that, so we're good to go. But it's definitely a fine line."

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