Raiders TE Bryant from the Locker Room

Las Vegas Raiders TE Harrison Bryant spoke from the locker room before heading to Baltimore to take on the Ravens this weekend and we have it all for you.

Las Vegas Raiders TE Harrison Bryant / Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated

BALTIMORE, MD.--The Las Vegas Raiders (0-1) jumped on an airplane early this morning to head east to join me for their tilt with the Baltimore Ravens (0-1) tomorrow.

The quickest way to heal the wound of that disappointing loss to the Chargers would be to upset the Ravens this weekend.

The game will kick off at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT, and both teams are coming in with an edge after a disappointing week one loss.

Before leaving for Maryland, we caught up in the Silver and Black locker room with TE Harrison Bryant to talk about the state of Raider Nation.

You can watch the entire interview from the locker room below:

Below is the transcript of Antonio Pierce’s press conference from Friday.

Q: Last year, you spent a lot of time with the offense. I'm just trying to learn your system, are you balancing it this year 50-50?

Coach Pierce: "Still with the offense."

Q: What have you learned about that?

Coach Pierce: "One, this is my first time ever being in the West Coast offense, so there's a lot of verbiage and a lot of communication. The concepts, the rhyme, the reason. Played against it for a bunch of years, coached against it, but obviously, first time dealing with it on a day-to-day basis. There's a lot of good stuff there, but like anything, I don't care if we're talking offense or defense, you got to put in reps. You’ve got to put in time, you’ve got to gel, you’ve got to get the same group out there and constantly talk through it. And I think Luke [Getsy] is doing a good job of it. I thought even last week, regardless of the outcome, that game plan we have worked on for quite a bit of time. Now, execution didn't show up, and that's where we got to get better at."

Q: How much do you think that the offense will take that step one week to the next since it’s kind of working out the kinks still?

Coach Pierce: "I think every coach in NFL talks about week one to week two, you really want to see that jump. And I think for us, that's something we harped on all week, not just offensively, but the entire team, coaching staff, myself as well. Just making that improvement from week to week."

Q: How much emphasis do you put on making sure your best players get the ball no matter what the play is?

Coach Pierce: "Player ran business. I've always said that. I said it the day I took over last year. I mean, we're good when our best players are playing really well, right? When Davante Adams, Jakobi [Meyers], Big Mike [Michael Mayer], Brock [Bowers], Zamir [White], when our O-line is playing well, and I can go on and on. But when those guys are making plays, typically, it's a good day for the Raiders. And that's what it’s going to come down to this game, right? We're going against one of the better teams in the National Football League, reigning MVP. I mean, all hands-on deck and our best players are going to show up."

Q: Is it too soon to expect K'Lavon Chaisson to potentially be elevated and play?

Coach Pierce: "We'll see. I mean, two days here. He’s looked good, though. He's looked good so far, just getting used to our system and scheme, making sure he's in shape and ready to go. Don't want to put somebody out there if they're not physically ready to do it or mentally."

Q: The offensive line this week, they used the word they're pissed. They're mad at themselves. As a coach, can you wish for anything more than guys that take the personal responsibility?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, because again it always starts with those guys up front. When we're a good offense, running the ball, throwing the ball, it starts with the o-line protection and everything of that nature. Their mentality sets the tone, their energy, their presence sets the tone. I think that's really critical. And they understood, they saw it. I mean, it was glaring what the issues were last week. And you sit there and you watch it, and you walk out that game with a loss, and you're like, 'Why? How did that happen? What were the reasons?' And obviously we discussed that. What you like is when you have linemen that do have a little chip on their shoulder, right? Have a little bit more fire in their belly. So, not going to talk about it, though, we got to go do it on Sunday."

Q: Along those lines, have you liked the attitude of the team of wanting to get back out there and the response that they had to the loss?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, I mean, bounce back ,24-hour rule legit. Came in here on Wednesday, and to be honest, I know it’s coaches talk, by far best Wednesday since I've taken over and this year. Way better than it was the week before. It was physical, guys got after it. We had to come indoors because of the smoke, but it was a lot of energy, the effort, the finish, the physicality, everything we want in a padded practice."

Q: Kind of a broader question, I don't know if you watched the game last night, but Tua Tagovailoa suffered another concussion. When you have players, and I know every player is different, but when somebody has a history of concussions, do you handle that any differently as a head coach?

Coach Pierce: "I'll be honest, I would just tell him to retire. It's not worth it, it's not worth it to play the game. I haven't witnessed anything like I've seen that's happened to him three times. Scary. You can see right away the players faces on the field. You can see the sense of urgency from everybody to get Tua [Tagovailoa] help. I just think at some point, he's going to live longer than he's going to play football. Take care of your family."

Q: Obviously you haven't played against Lamar Jackson, but you played Michael Vick and as that MIKE linebacker, how important is it Sunday for gap integrity with your defensive line?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, we got to remind them each and every play. It's going to come from the headset from PG [Patrick Graham], myself on the sideline, and then Robert Spillane has to do a really good job each and every play emphasizing what we need to do. Gap integrity, scheme wise, our concepts, it's going to change. You can't give them the same picture every time, obviously. But just very cliche, you got to do your job, man. This isn't a game where you run around the quarterback 10-15 yards up the field. That's going to be bad ball. And we've talked about it, we’ve talked about cage rushing, talked about gap integrity, pushing the pocket. I mean, there's a lot of success with Lamar [Jackson] at times when you do it the right way. Now, you're dealing with an elite athlete and he's going to make plays, and we got to understand that. And we got to move on, right? He's going to bust a run; he's done it every game of his career. But we can't let him break our backs doing it throughout the game."

Q: Your defensive backfield had a good game last week, held Justin Herbert to under 150 passing yards. How impressed were you with them? And what do you expect from them on Sunday?

Coach Pierce: "Oh, that was good. I mean, if you would have told me you lost the game and he threw for under 150, I would have told you you were lying. What I love to see honestly was one of the first 10 plays I think in the game was JB [Jakorian Bennett], out there on the sideline. Hell of a job playing the ball. I think that was big confidence booster for him. We saw that in training camp but to see it in the game, live action kind of early on, it was really good. And you can see the energy and excitement from our secondary. But that group has been pretty steady and solid. Obviously, there were some plays in the secondary from our safeties we wish we could have back, but that group throughout this offseason and training camp, preseason has been pretty consistent, but it's going to be another big challenge, right? It's week to week. You've got two guys here that really run down the field. The vertical threat is real this week, and then us tackling in space like I just said. Lamar [Jackson] is going to get out there. He's going to make a play or two, we've got to get him on the ground."

Q: You mentioned Jakorian Bennett having that training camp and preseason looking really good. How much of a chip on his shoulder is he playing with right now?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, I mean think about it, he started the season off as a starter and it didn't quite end that well for him, and you saw a lot change in just his mental makeup. I think as rookie, you think you go in there and you can strap up everybody, right? Nobody is ever going to catch the ball on you, and that didn't quite happen for him. But what I saw is somebody each and every day work on ball drills, footwork, technique, have a short term memory. To play that position, they're going to catch the ball on you, stop acting like you're not going to give up any catches. And I think for him as a young player, having a great off season, and then again like I said, that first play when he was challenged stepping up, that's huge for his confidence going forward."

Q: Any update with Jackson Powers-Johnson or with Tyree Wilson as well? I know he hasn't really practiced at all this week.

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, Tyree [Wilson] will be out, and Jackson [Powers-Johnson] will be a game-time decision."

Q: People that are old enough like me to remember you playing, Amari Gainer reminds a lot of people - not the same game as you, but a lot of similarities. What does he have to do to play? I know he's got guys ahead of them, but to earn playing time?

Coach Pierce: "Playing linebacker? I mean, we've got two good linebackers, and take 41 and 5 off the field, I don't see that happening anytime soon. But I think it's really just finding a role for him, right? I think first and foremost, he's a special teams player now for us, he's a four core guy. Making an impact there is really important, that's going to help change the field for us. And I think as the season goes on, you'll see it. I mean, there's moments where upstairs we're like, 'Okay, we can do this with him,' but at the same time, I always worry about throwing a rookie in the fire too soon. And I think he needs to just get his feet underneath him, get grounded, get comfortable, make some plays on special teams and then you'll see that translate on defense."

Q: Rookie linebacker Tommy Eichenberg has been a full participant in practice so far. Can you just talk about getting him back on the field and what his role could potentially turn into?

Coach Pierce: “Yeah, excited about him. He'll be up this week. We'll be rolling with Tommy, four core special teams guy. Again, just like I said, get his feet wet on special teams and let him go out there and make plays. Hasn't played football in about a month now, so we need to get out there and get his legs underneath him and get him used to some contact. And no better way to do it than on special teams.

Q: You mentioned Gardner Minshew and there were a couple plays where it looked like he could have taken some shots. Has that been an emphasis this week of if it's there, let it rip??

Coach Pierce: “Listen, I'm all about it. We got Tre Tucker. I mean, we took one shot last week to Davante that wasn't good enough, ball was out of bounds. But you saw in the preseason that that's what we wanted to look like, and that needs to show up Sunday.”

Q: You've addressed the fourth down decision several times this week, but just going forward, are you comfortable with where the communication is in terms of everybody be on the same page and discussing those kinds of things in a quick manner and making the decision on the field?

Coach Pierce: “Yeah, we do that all the time."

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