Head Coach Jack Del Rio
Following Sunday's win at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio was back at the facility Monday to recap the 35-32 victory, and start preparing for the Buffalo Bills.
The Silver and Black are riding a five-game winning-streak, and have now secured their first winning season in 14 years. Del Rio has taught this team not only how to win, but how to stay hungry for more and not settle for less.
Here are the quick hits following Del Rio's press conference:
He shared his thoughts on the atmosphere at the Coliseum, and commended Raider Nation for their passion all season long.
"I absolutely did. Preparing for the game and talking with the production crew, I was asked about that because as you get going and the crowd knows that you're getting it going, they know you're having that kind of year, the roar kind of picks up. Right now, there's a definite roar there at home for us and it's awesome. The crowd has been awesome all along. The last two years, the two years I've been here, they've been great. It's really picking up now. They're really into it. They can sense we have a good team and we're doing good things and the guys are playing hard and playing tough and I think they appreciate it and we appreciate them."
The Raiders Head Coach discussed a couple of the team's mantras and what the meaning is behind each one.
"Yeah, we've got a couple, you know? Whatever it takes and by any means. I think that's Khalil's [Mack] favorite. I've even borrowed it a couple of times. It rubs off. You like it, right? It makes sense because whatever we have to do, by any means. It's awesome. That's really been what we've been about. We've been very diligent, very purposeful. Guys are battling to the end and finding a way. They're making plays."
Del Rio talked about how he has helped this group of players understand what it means to win.
"I think you do the things that we've been doing, which is you want to teach situational awareness. You want to make sure that we have the basic fundamentals that we're going to need to rely on and we harp on those, that we have the plays that we need to get to and that we've been able to take reps at them and understand the things they're going to do and how they'd counter it and what our answers are. It's really about having answers and then it's about the execution when you get to that moment. I think having the turns in the system and having the repetitions, practicing it and perfecting it, I think that really goes a long way."
He commented on the team's penalties, and noted that it isn't an issue, as long as the team remains disciplined.
"We believe it's important. But we're not going to stress out about it. Part of that is, it might take a while for the league and the referees to understand that what you grew up watching and some of the rule-breaking that this franchise was proud of at one point, that's not how we're doing things. We are a disciplined team. We like the toughness part and the physicality, and the free spirits and all those kinds of things. We want people to be themselves, but we're going to have discipline. We do."
Del Rio broke down both of defensive end Khalil Mack's standout plays on Sunday and praised his athleticism.
"Great desire. He just collapsed that tackle, really nullified the chip just by powering that guy and took the ball away and then recovered it. It was a great play. That was a great play right before halftime when he reached up. It was like the reflexes, like a tiger playing with a ball. Somebody threw a ball, he just snatched it and goes in and scores and jumps rather easily. I know I couldn't get halfway up that wall. He jumped into The Black Hole. That was pretty cool."
