Myles Gaskin – September 26, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 26, 2021
Postgame – Las Vegas
RB Myles Gaskin
(What was the whole atmosphere like? I know it sucks that you lose a game but was it fun out there? Was the atmosphere like crazy?) – “Yeah, it was fun. Those are the type of games that you want to play. We came up short but games that go into OT, when we are back and forth the whole game; that is what football is about in the National Football League. Nobody is bad like that. That’s the game we want.”
(Do you feel like you found something there at the end of the game with the way the offense moved to carry into next week or is it the two-minute offense and who knows how it will do?) – “I think we had our ups and downs. I got to watch the film. But yeah, I think we did well in the two-minute situations. Jacoby (Brissett) threw the ball well, made great decisions when we needed them. On that big fourth down, he came up big on the connection to Mike (Gesicki). We got to just check it out.”
Zach Sieler – September 26, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 26, 2021
Postgame – Las Vegas
DT Zach Sieler
(Can you describe the mood in the locker room?) – “We just got to look back at what we did, fix what we do and keep going.”
(The fourth down stop, can you recall what happened on that play there?) – “We had to get it. Made sure we loaded it up and just went for it.”
(It felt to me, from way up in the press box, like both lines came into this game with a mindset of intensity and aggressiveness and physical play. Can you tell me if I am on to something there?) – “We always want to come in physical. We want to play the hardest ball and give our all every snap. That’s just kind of how we do business as a d-line and defense.”
(Do you feel like you were more successful at it? From last week to this week it seemed like the results were way different.) – “I think we are growing. We just keep building week by week, keep learning and do our thing.”
(What did you think of LB Elandon Roberts’ play?) – “He’s a great linebacker. He grabbed it – you’re talking abut the interception? That was a great read by him and he took it all the way.”
(Especially after last week’s game, how can you describe the energy level on the defensive side of the ball to start this one out?) – “Yeah, we want to come out and like you said, play physical, give our all on every down and even Elandon’s play was just showing he was giving his all and running as fast as he can all the way down there.”
Will Fuller – September 26, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 26, 2021
Postgame – Las Vegas
WR Will Fuller
(Do you think you were interfered with in the endzone there at the end?) – “It was bang-bang, but I feel like he got there a little early. I just got to go back and watch it though.”
(How did it feel to be out there? Obviously you don’t want to start your tenure with the Dolphins on a loss but how did it feel to be on the field with your teammates) – “It felt great to be back out there. Of course, you know, I wish we won and we could have done more to get that victory, but it felt great to be back out there with the guys. Not being able to be out there that much during training camp and then not playing since Thanksgiving, it felt great to be back out there. I wish we would have gotten the win though.”
(How are you feeling most importantly? We know you were away form the team last week, how are you doing now?) – “I’m doing great. I don’t want to speak too much on that but I’m doing a lot better. I’m just happy to be back playing.”
(What did you think of the approach not taking too many shots downfield the first three quarters until you had to late in the game? Would you like to see more of that?) – “I’m just going to play whatever the coaches call. We just got to execute better, practice better and we’ll come out with the win. I feel like the game plan was great. We just have to execute a little better.”
(Are you used to playing this type of role? QB Jacoby Brissett just told us that sometimes in games like this the defensive coordinator is waiting for an offense or hoping an offense would stick to an intermediate, short passing game plan. Are you used to being the guy that just sneaks behind a lazy defense or sneaks behind and just has to wait your turn to make that impact?) – “Those big plays, they don’t really come that often. You only get a few opportunities a game. I got my opportunities today, we just didn’t connect, we were close. We just have to hit in practice and make sure we connect when we get the opportunities.”
(What is that like from your perspective? Having to buy your time until that big play becomes available.) – “I just use my speed to my advantage so I can get the underneath catches too. Like I said, we just have to execute on the deep ones and it’ll make the underneath ones a lot easier.”
(What was the key to the two-point conversion?) – “It was just mano y mano, they trusted me to win and I just ran a good route and then I won.”
Christian Wilkins – September 26, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 26, 2021
Postgame – Las Vegas
DT Christian Wilkins
(How would you describe the emotions of the game?) – “It’s obviously tough. You prepare so hard each week, each and every day to get wins in this league and it’s tough. The Raiders are a good team, first of all. This is tough because we fought hard. You got a lot of guys in this locker room who are fighters and give you everything they got. We just didn’t make enough plays ultimately. It’ll be a quick turnaround, 24-hour rule and get ready for next week.”
(Early on I believe you got a sack, how good did that feel to get in the backfield?) – “It’s always nice to make plays, you work hard. Again, we didn’t make enough plays to win so it would have felt a lot better in a winning effort, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. You can’t control that. You can just play hard each and every play. Like I said, we didn’t make enough plays to win.”
(Speaking of that sack, how did it come to be? It looked like DL Adam Butler got triple-teamed and it freed you up a bit.) – “I don’t know exactly. I have to watch the tape to really see it. Adam (Butler) does a good job of taking one, two or three guys at a different time to make it easier for other guys. We play off each other. I’d do the same for him. I don’t really know how it went down.”
(There are no moral victories but was there a sense of encouragement with the way the team rallied at the end?) – “Yeah really no moral victories but like I said, we got a lot of guys on this team who are willing to fight. When we’re down late in the third and fourth quarter, we’re just trying to get things going, make stops. Guys didn’t give up. Guys didn’t hang their heads. Guys didn’t point fingers. We stuck together and fought to at least get it in overtime. But again, it just wasn’t enough. Every experience is big. Every battle-tested experience is big for us.”
(As a defense when you see your offense with their backs against the wall, make play after play and you’re watching tat, you have to feel like the momentum is turning when you’re there at the end right?) – “Yeah, it’s definitely exciting and you try to get behind the offense. When we’re going and we need to make a stop on defense they pick us up as well. We try to just encourage each other, whether we are up, whether we are down, whether we need a big stop, whether they need to score. Just always be there for each other.”
Elandon Roberts – September 26, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 26, 2021
Postgame – Las Vegas
LB Elandon Roberts
(Is a game like this emotionally draining?) – “Oh yeah, of course. I feel like every game has a lot of emotions in it. From the players to the coaches and even with the fans. It’s a lot of emotion that goes into it but that’s week-to-week.”
(Can you take us through the pic-six?) – “The call we had dialed up was just a good play. That’s it. I was trying to make a play for the team.”
(What did it mean to make that play at this [Allegiant Stadium] place?” – “It meant a lot. This is the place I had tore my ACL last year. It definitely meant a lot.”
(The defense always wants to be physical and aggressive, what are your thoughts on how well the team did that today?) – “I just think we have to get back, watch film and get the corrections off of it. Games like this, you prepare all week and it’s hard for a game. He asked about emotions and stuff, you don’t really have a lot of guys on the ‘he he, ha ha.’ Everybody just wants to get back, watch film, see what corrections we need to make and move on, put it behind us so that we don’t make the same mistakes the next week.”
Mike Gesicki – September 26, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 26, 2021
Postgame – Las Vegas
TE Mike Gesicki
(Fourth-and-20, 27-yard catch. Take us through what you were trying to do there.) – “That’s just a situational play that we go through every Friday so that’s just me understanding the sticks, Jacoby (Brissett) making a play with his feet, keeping the play alive, the other receivers running their routes to have good spacing on that play and then obviously the defense knows it’s fourth-and-20 so you’ve got to get past the sticks. Jacoby put a good ball out there and my job is to go out and make plays when the ball is thrown to me and that was just an opportunity I had to make the most of.”
(What was your perception of QB Jacoby Brissett’s play there?) – “Jacoby did great. He did a great job leading. I think he did a great job getting guys lined up and ultimately did a great job fighting. I think that that’s the biggest thing. We put him back there and he kept plays alive, put the ball in phenomenal spots. DeVante (Parker) had a huge catch on fourth down and Jacoby thread the needle there, thread the needle with me on fourth down. He had the game-tying touchdown before the two-point obviously so you can’t say enough good things about Jacoby. I love playing with him, I love him as a teammate, I love him as a guy.”
(You guys wanted to get off to a quick start. You guys get off to a 14-0 lead. What did they do to try to slow you guys down on the offensive side?) – “You’ve got to give credit to the defense honestly, our defense for our quick start. ‘E. Rob’ (Elandon Roberts) went out there, pick-six, really happy for him. It’s obviously a place where he was injured last year and kind of comes full circle for him and then they got a stop on fourth down. And we talked about getting the running game going. Malcolm goes out, o-line does a great job, tight ends. I think Adam (Shaheen) and Durham (Smythe) were in there, just kind of sealing off the edge, Malcolm squirts out, gets a 25-yard, 30-yard touchdown run. And then it’s the National Football League. They’re going to make plays as well. They did and you’ve got to take your hat off to them. They’re a great football team and this was an unbelievable atmosphere. A lot of fun playing but ultimately a couple plays short.”
(On what opened things up specifically for him) – “Yeah, I couldn’t really put my finger on it honestly. It’s just you’re out there all game, you’re running your routes and sometimes the ball doesn’t come your way, but when it does whether it’s the biggest moment of the game or whether it’s the first play; you don’t know which play is going to be the biggest so you’ve got to go out and take advantage of every opportunity that you get and I think I’ve said it hundreds of times with interviews with you guys. My biggest thing is just making the most of my opportunities so I was presented with a couple opportunities to go make plays and I was able to do so, but like I said earlier, a couple plays short so back to work and we’ll be ready to go next week.”
Brian Flores – September 24, 2021
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Friday, September 24, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(With the running game,obviously it’s hard to run a lot when you’re trailing as you were Sunday. Would you like to see more of a running game generated or in your mind it’s whatever it takes to win even if you have to pass 80 percent of the downs?) – “Yeah, we want to move the ball effectively. We want to have balance – run, pass, screens, RPOs – however best way to move it. We’ve got to obviously be more efficient offensively. You always want balance. I think it helps in both the run and the pass game when you have that kind of balance and the defense doesn’t know what it’s going to be, but I think you need to have variety in your schemes, your concepts, run, pass, play-action, drop back, whatever the case may be. But at the end of the day, it’s about the execution and getting 11 guys on the same page and that’s what we’re working towards in practice and our preparation this week. It’s a very good opponent we’re facing. They play fast, they play physical, they’ve got a good rush, they’re well-coached, they tackle well. So we have our hands full for sure.”
(Where is your comfort level sticking with the backs on the pass protection that they brought in the first two games?) – “I think our backs, they do a good job in protection. I think collectively we need to do a better job as a total team from a protection standpoint. There’s a lot of different instances or situations where guys could block a backer, could block an end, could not have anybody get out into the routes, so there’s a few nuances to that. But I think our guys, they understand what they need to do. We’ve had some instances where we’ve had guys come through the hole and there’s been some pressure. We could do a better job of our technique, our fundamentals there. But our guys know what to do, where they need to be and I think they’ve done a solid job, but we can always be better.”
(With WR Will Fuller, how has he looked? This has been, by my count, his first full week of practice with you guys since probably OTAs or minicamp. How has he looked and do you expect him to play a significant role, if any, against the Raiders?) – “Will (Fuller) has worked hard. We expect him to play so we’ll get out there. Again, we had practice Wednesday, a walkthrough yesterday. Today we’ll practice and kind of put the finishing touches on the game plan, run a few things offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. But yeah, Will has looked good this week.”
(When it comes to QB Jacoby Brissett, how do you feel about the preparation this week? Do you feel like you checked all the marks that you want to in order to get him ready for the game?) – “We still have to go through today, but so far this week, I think he’s done a nice job from a preparation standpoint. He’s in here, he’s meeting with his teammates, he’s watching the film, asking questions. But we’ll see how today goes and we’ve got to finish off the week well.”
(Kind of going back to the topic of the run game, you had mentioned earlier this week the explosive rushers they have in Raiders DE Yannick Ngakoue and DE Maxx Crosby getting a lot of production so far this season. What’s the best way to kind of try to neutralize those guys? Is it the run game? Is it helping in pass pro with the running backs and chipping? Just how do you get those two guys neutralized so you can be effective offensively?) – “They’re good players. Good in the run game, good in the pass game. There’s a myriad of ways you try to limit their productivity, but they do a nice job. I think both guys have played in this league. They’ve seen a lot of different ways that they’ve been attacked, but it’s about execution at the end of the day. It’s about execution. It’s about getting in and out of the huddle, getting 11 guys on the same page and executing a specific play – run, pass, screen, draw – and at the end of the day, it’s about execution.”
(Do you have a pretty good idea what the offensive line is going to look like Sunday? If so, anything you care to share with us?) – “Yeah, I have a good idea of what that’s going to look like. I’m not going to share that with you. (laughter)”
(It’s kind of a tricky question in terms of what to do with QB Reid Sinnett, in terms if you use elevations for two games to bring him up, do you put QB Tua Tagovailoa on IR and bring Reid to the 53? Where are you and General Manager Chris Grier in that process, do you know what you want to do, is it a tough call?) – “Those are all conversations you have to have with a situation like this. I think with Tua, it’s day to day and we want to see how he is doing every day. Is he making improvement? And that kind of gives us a lot of information we need to make those types of decisions. He’s in today, he’s getting a little bit better every day. We’re kind of in this day to day space. We have a little bit more time to make a decision, to gather some more information I’d say. But yeah those conversations are definitely being had.”
(As a general philosophy question, what goes into the decision to have a walkthrough and when?) – “Every year is different. Based on the schedule, based on travel, based on your injury situation. It’s a little bit different. It’s basically a gut or a feel of what we need to include – I would say travel oftentimes becomes a part of that, and then what the next few weeks look like. It might be one week with a walkthrough, two weeks without one. It’s just different. I can’t say for sure because I think the overall general health of the team play a role in that. I think every team kind of deals with that – when to, when not to, the benefits to walking through, what you get when you don’t walkthrough which is the pace and the timing and the fundamentals and the techniques at a higher speed. I wish there was a blueprint but I think every year is different, every team is different. The travel is different every year. I think you got to take all of that into account.”
(Last season you guys really hit your stride after that trip out west to San Francisco. Is there something to a trip together out west where you have a couple of days to galvanize the team, is there something to that?) – “No, I think playing well is about execution. I think at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about. It’s about preparation. Preparation leads to confidence and preparation and confidence leads to execution. I think that’s my thought on that.”
(Determining the allocation of snaps, so much has to do with the game plan for that week. How much do you and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer, and your offensive coordinators consider past performances against a team? I know CB Nik Needham had a very good year last year but struggled like a lot of guys in the Buffalo finale last year. We saw CB Justin Coleman play a lot last week instead of Nik. S Eric Rowe who has been a very good player for you but struggled a little bit against TE Darren Waller in Week 16 even though everybody struggled against Waller. Do you look at past performances and allocate snaps for a particular guy in a upcoming game?) – “I think every game plan is a little bit different. My approach is always – I look at last year’s game, but their team is different. They didn’t have – their o-line is different, some of the backs are different. Some guys are the same but it’s not a copy and paste of our game plan from last year and just stick it in there. That’s not my approach. We look at is as if it’s brand new, a clean slate. We’ve got different players, they’ve got different players, and what’s the best way to game plan this offensively, defensively and in the kicking game.”
(What role, if any, does analytics play in decisions – game situation decision such as fourth down going for the first down, punting, field goal or punting?) – “We have, I think, a very good analytics team. Headed by (Head Coach Assistant/Research & Analytics) Harry Freid and (Director of Coaching Analytics) Max Mulitz, those guys do a nice job for us. Yeah, it plays a role. I don’t think we’re going strictly off a model or the book. A lot of it is our team, their team, how we want to play, whether or not we want to go for it or not go for it. I think there is a lot that goes into it. There is a lot of conversation that’s had about it. We talk about it as a staff. What we’ve talked about, to include the numbers, we try to execute in the game.”
Jason McCourty – September 23, 2021
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Thursday, September 23, 2021
DB Jason McCourty
(When you a receiver with the speed of Raiders WR Henry Ruggs. Obviously you face a couple of them in practice. How much of an alert is that for you as a free safety?) – “I would say every play you kind of want to know where your speed threats are – just guys that can attack the deep part of the field so that goes for (Henry) Ruggs, that goes for (Darren) Waller. Those guys can get on you in a hurry and I think it’s just kind of knowing who you’re going against. You know where (Hunter) Renfrow is at. He’s a guy – space – but he’s a guy that they can hit double moves and he’s a guy that Derek Carr trusts. And then you saw (Bryan) Edwards in the Baltimore late in overtime come up with big plays down the field – one on kind of a wheel route scramble play and one kind of on a deep in cut. So I think a guy like Ruggs, Waller, all of these guys; it’s just a matter of knowing, “All right, where are these guys at? Where are my matchups in front of me? Where do I think I need to help?” And so forth. So I think it’s just overall knowledge of the offense and just trying to read Derek Carr but also have an awareness of where the deep threats are.”
(What’s impressed you most about the way Raiders QB Derek Carr has played this year?) – “He’s just been so efficient. When you watch, he’s getting the ball out, but when there’s opportunities to take shots, he’s taking advantage of those and that’s on every single down and every single personnel and that’s what makes him tough. You turn the film on and they’re shifting, they’re motioning, they’re lining up in a bunch and then they shift and those same three guys all rotate to different positions in a bunch and they’re able to run routes whether it’s 13-personnel, 22-personnel and there’s multiple tight ends or the fullback in. They’re still going empty, they’re still getting four guys down the field so that’s the tough thing with them and you can just tell Derek Carr has a great grasp on the offense. He knows exactly what’s going on in every play. He’s able to read the defense. He’s checking them in and out of plays. So he’s been extremely impressive. I believe he’s the passing leader right now so he’s making tons of plays on every down for them.”
(Is that just continuity or is it just QB Derek Carr and the offense have reached that status?) – “I don’t know. Hopefully they slow down a little bit by the time Sunday comes, but I would assume the more you work with the same guys, the better it’s going to be. That goes for anybody playing this game. The more you can work with the same coaching staff, the more you can work with the same weapons that you have. You can see it’s showing up for them on Sunday. We played against them last year when I was on another team and you saw his talent and now you can just see them taking the next step forward and that’s what you want to do as a team and as an organization, so we know the challenge that they pose come Sunday.”
(This obviously is the most safety work you’ve gotten in a while or perhaps in your career I would venture to say. How has the transition gone? Are you happy with where you’re at personally?) – “It’s been fun. I think whenever you walk into a new challenge, you kind of put it upon yourself to learn as much as you can and as fast as you can. And I think the fun part about it has been as a veteran next to me – Eric Rowe, there’s a rookie beside me in Jevon Holland, another young guy in Brandon Jones and that’s been a lot of fun just in our group. I’m an old guy, but I’m also new kind of to learning the ins and outs of the position so us kind of all being able to collaborate, talk about what we see, talk about the upcoming matchup has been a lot of fun just to continue to grow as a group and we’re a group where some guys have strengths in one thing, weaknesses in others and it’s just been fun to see how we’re deployed and the plays we can make and how we can all work together.”
(Speaking of S Jevon Holland what was he like when he came over with the football on that fumble recovery last week? He lit up on Zoom when he was talking about it.) – “Yeah, he’s a guy who’s just fired up to be here and you love to be around young guys that just want to learn and just want to get better and Jevon is the type of guy when one of his favorite players kind of growing up – if they follow him on Instagram or if he meets him and they know his name, he’s fired up about it. So those are the kind of things we talk about outside of football and that’s fun to see as an older guy for me, just to see his excitement and I remember the first preseason game – because obviously he didn’t play football opting out last year at Oregon – and the first preseason game he’s just looking at his name on the back of the jersey and you can see how special it meant. For me as an old guy doing preseason after preseason, that’s fun and exciting to see a guy just fired up like ‘man, I’m in the National Football League.’ And as kids, you dreamed about being here and we get an opportunity together in this organization on this team to go out there and live our dreams out every Sunday. So it’s been fun to watch him amongst a lot of guys on this team.”
(So 13 years later into your career, what was your S Jevon Holland moment like “oh my God, this is it?”) – “I remember as a rookie walking into the locker room – I guess I was showing my age a little bit, but Jevon Kearse was in the locker room, Vince Young was in the locker room. For me, I used to play NCAA with Texas so I used to run the option with ‘V.Y.’ So that was cool and Vince (Young) was a guy that talked to everybody so as a sixth-round draft pick, ‘V.Y.’ is talking to me, I’m like ‘all right, maybe I am somebody.’ And then for me, Keith Bulluck is from the same hometown as me so as a rookie being able to be in the locker room with him and just knowing that growing up he was kind of the guy that kind of let us know like ‘hey, maybe we have a chance because Keith made it.’ So for me as a rookie just being in the locker room with some of those guys was kind of a moment. Like ‘dang, I’m actually here.’ So it’s fun to still be able to be here a whole decade-plus later.”
(Did you watch the game last year that the Dolphins played in Las Vegas and that final play with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick? Do you remember?) – “I remember. Yeah, I watched it – I remember watching it last year because I got a chance to play with ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) in Tennessee so it was just kind of in ‘Fitz’ fashion – helmet being ripped to the other side, chucked the ball up and make a play. So I know that was probably fun times for those guys and the focus for us is obviously we’re going back down there again and stay focused and try to come out of Vegas with a win.”
(You’ve had a week to watch WR Will Fuller. What kind of impressions do you have that he can make for this offense?) – “Well, I got a chance to play against Will Fuller back when I was in their division and a guy with his level of speed is tough. The same way we opened up and you asked about Henry Ruggs and being able to know where he is on every given play, Fuller brings that type of dynamic to an offense with his speed and his down-the-field playmaking ability. So I’m just excited for him to be on the team. Obviously it’ll be a process for him and the entire offense to continue to work together, continue to make plays. But he’s a guy who’s been here throughout the spring, throughout training camp so obviously we all go through things and the whole nine, so it’s fun to just see him out here practicing with the guys and smiling and just being able to get acclimated.”
(Tell us why it’s important for you to get involved in Project Nigeria.) – “Sickle cell is something that’s been in my family. My aunt had the disease. She passed away in 2019. I have an uncle that has the disease and my father had the trait, so growing up, I lost my father at a young age and my aunt was really the connection for Devin and myself to that side of our family. I just grew up really close and watched her struggle and watched her continue to fight against the disease. Probably for the past decade, we’ve done work here in the States and whatever city I’ve played in, ‘Dev’ (Devin McCourty) and then back home in the New Jersey area, and we’ve always hoped to be able to expand and this Project Nigeria gives us an opportunity to expand and just bring something as simple as vitamins to young kids in Nigeria that will help them tremendously – those with the sickle cell disease. It’s amazing to know that kids under five have a mortality rate of 50 percent and you think about in our country, a lot of times kids are tested. I remember being a kid going and being tested for sickle cell and there’s a lot of different things that kids are able to survive and continue to live long lives. My aunt lived to 69 years old ,so to think that in Nigeria a kid at five years old has a 50 percent chance of living if he has sickle cell disease is a scary statistic. So Devin and myself will be matching up to $25,000 in donations to be able to help kids there so excited to see that project coming to fruition.”
