Wide Receiver Seth Roberts
Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio
Opening Statement
"Not what we were looking for tonight. I tell the guys all the time you get what you earn in this league. We didn't do enough to earn a win tonight and didn't do enough to earn an opportunity to clinch the division. What we did earn is our way to the playoffs. It's huge for us to pick ourselves up and get prepared for next week. Obviously we came into the game with big expectations, but we have to be able to bounce back and move onto the next. It was a tough game. They did a nice job and we didn't do enough early enough to win. We were minus three on turnovers, we've been really good all year, losing the turnover battle is not the way you want to go about doing business. There were some other things. They ran the ball better than we did, time of possession, third downs. They earned it tonight, we didn't. We'll move on from tonight and get ready for next."
On QB Matt McGloin's injury
"He has a shoulder injury. He couldn't come back so [QB] Connor [Cook] went in. I thought there were some positives with Connor's possession. There were some mistakes with the ball security, but I thought Cook did a pretty good job for being thrown in there. I don't have a sense of McGloin's availability for next week. At this point I don't have an answer for that. We'll be back and regroup tomorrow, and look at everybody and see where they are and make a determination from then. It's his left shoulder."
On who will start at quarterback next week
"We'll see how healthy McGloin is and make the decision from there. Obviously he has more experience in our system, a little bit longer, but I thought Connor did a nice job, with the opportunities that he had."
On the defense tonight
"I thought we did some things really well. We got off to a slow start, with a series of penalties that allowed them to continue the drive and I thought when we had our chances. Only two plays stick out to me. There was a play where there was a run where we didn't allow the run properly and misfit it and allowed them to go 65 yards. The other killer was when we backed them to get them out of field goal range and then they popped that thing on 3rd-and-18. Those are just two big momentum plays defensively. I thought we did some things, we showed some grittiness and hung in there for a while. We got a turnover, but just didn't respond."
On team chemistry
"I'm confident in this group. I feel like it's a really good group. They really care about each other. They care about this team and are really prideful. I think we'll find a way to bounce back and will be ready to roll next week."
On team morale after losing QB Derek Carr last week
"I think you leave yourself open to those kinds of questions for sure. We're big boys. We can take it like men and move on. It's not what we wanted by any stretch. In a lot of different areas, we can be a lot better. As a team, we are better than that. We need to just put this behind us and move on."
On the team's preparation this week
"It [the loss] is for a lack of desire. I thought that throughout the week, the guys' energy really picked up and I felt really good about the way that we prepared and our energy level. It just didn't manifest itself through a victory for us."
On preparing for the playoffs
"Nothing is easy about this league, it's always tough. We'll be ready to roll. We have a good group of men. We'll shift into playoff mode. That's what we talked about, you get what you earn. We wanted to win the division but we didn't earn that. We earned the playoffs. We won 12 games this year and we earned a spot in the playoffs. We're looking forward to it."
On the offense's lack of productivity
"Based on our guys, it surprised me. The way we've been rolling, it surprised me. A part of that is not converting third downs. We were 2-of-12 today. If you're not converting on third downs, it's hard to get the attempts that you want to get. That's one of the keys to running the ball well, moving the chains and having more possessions and more carries and attempts. We have to move the ball and score points. We didn't move the ball very well and didn't score many points. We need more productivity. We have a good group of guys and we'll put together a good plan and get ourselves ready."
Raiders Quarterback Connor Cook
On his first NFL experience
"It was fast, obviously, going the whole week not getting a lot of reps and just being thrown out there. It's just the name of the game. When you're playing the quarterback spot, if one man goes down then it's next man up. I was frustrated I didn't get out there and get some reps. I was trying to get the timing down with the receivers, but it didn't go the way we wanted it to go."
On being ready for the playoffs
"Any time you go out there and get some reps, you get a little confidence going and get experience, it's going to help you out in the future."
**On the team shaking off their performance
**
"I don't really ever want to feel like this ever again. I think if you've got that taste in your mouth with a whole week of preparation, then it's on to the next one. Once we have that game next Saturday – we don't want to feel like this – so we're going to do whatever we can to not feel like that. We're going to study hard, bust our tails in practice and get it rolling against whoever we're playing. That sour taste after a game, you don't want to taste it again."
On QB Matt McGloin's availability affecting his preparation
"I'm going to do what I've been doing all year. When I was inactive, I was still watching film and still studying the gameplan and going over everything – my reads, my hots and all that. It's not going to change anything for me. I'm going to still prep as if I'm playing, it doesn't matter if I'm backup, starter or whatever."
On evaluating his play
"I thought I made some good throws, but obviously I put the ball on the ground too many times and gave them one with the interception. It's a learning experience. We're going to put this behind us and focus on next week."
On protecting the ball better
"It's not getting a whole lot of reps and just being thrown out there and running plays that I've never really ran before. Working on those during the week, getting extra reps and extra practice on those plays I think can help out."
On the failed two-point conversion
"The play broke down. It was designed to go to No. 10, [WR] Seth [Roberts], and they kind of gloved him up. I tried to make something out of nothing. 'Coop' [WR Amari Cooper] was running a crossing route. The guy was playing underneath and I tried to stop him. I was just trying to make a play."
Raiders Wide Receiver Amari Cooper
On whether he thinks any less of his team's chance in the playoffs
"No. Our heads shouldn't be down. We're still going to the playoffs; we just didn't earn a bye. We just have to go out there next week, and it all starts with practice. We have to execute in practice and go out there and just play our game."
On what it was like when QB Matt McGloin went out and QB Connor Cook had to come in
"It's football, man. You have to improvise and overcome. It wasn't much of a surprise. It's part of the game."
On how he thought Cook performed
"He did well. It was his first time out there and he's a rookie. I think he was really poised. I'm excited to see what he can do in the future."
On the deep pass where he and McGloin got mixed up
"I don't know what the pass rush was like, but I think he really got hit hard on that play. I think that's what it was about."
On whether he's confident that the offense can be more efficient with Cook or McGloin
"Repetition is everything. The more you can rep plays with somebody, with the quarterback, the better off you'll be. I look forward to that repetition."
On whether it's been hard not having a steady quarterback
"It shouldn't be. Everybody should be ready to play. It really shouldn't matter."
Raiders Wide Receiver Michael Crabtree
On how the refs spoke to him
"Disrespectful. It was too much. You see what he was doing in front of me. What do you want me to do? I can't react or they're going to kick me out. Then, I'm the bad guy. I made a business decision for my team."
On past history with these refs
"I don't have history with anybody. I guess today they felt like were going to let them get away with a lot of stuff."
On past history with CB Aqib Talib
"I don't have history with anybody. I just felt like they were acting. They're actors. You aren't tough. You aren't defending anybody up like that. You're acting. You're snatching chains up on the field. What do you accomplish? Are you hard? Are you tough? Does that make you tough? You're snatching chains in front of the police and take off running. That was childish man."
On speaking with the officials
"They were acting like I was the problem. That's what I didn't like. I'm not even that type of dude. I play football. I don't want to be in anybody's space throwing cut blocks. I could have cut, I could have hurt him. I play football. I don't like that."
Raiders Linebacker Bruce Irvin
On what he thought the issues were defensively
"Defensively? I don't know. First half, we just weren't playing assignment football. They ran everything we went over the whole week and we didn't execute. They gassed us."
On whether this outcome was surprising given how well they had been playing
"No, because if you don't handle your business in this league you get beat on any given day. Those guys are professionals too. Their coach might be retiring [stepping down]. They really didn't have anything to lose so they went out there and left it on the line. It is what it is and we have to be ready for Houston next week."
On how they will prepare for Houston
"We just have to go to work. We have to go to work."
Raiders Quarterback Matt McGloin
On the hit that injured his shoulder
"I just got hit. Looks like I got drilled on the ground a bit."
On whether he could have continued playing
"I just felt like that was best for the team at the team at the time, for [QB] Connor [Cook] to get in there. My arm wasn't feeling good."
On whether the injury affected his throwing motion
"I couldn't throw in a motion that I'm used to, my normal motion. I'll get in there bright and early tomorrow to get treatment to get ready."
On the energy level of the team
"We had a great week of practice. We prepared hard and we were excited to play this game. We knew it was at high stakes. Unfortunately, we couldn't have gotten it done."
On how to fix the offense
"Just have to watch the film and see. I'm not too sure at this moment."
On the lack of running efficiency
"Give Denver a lot of credit. They did a great job today in stopping the run and they did a great job in controlling the ball. They did a tremendous job. We've got a game next week we have to prepare for so we have to learn from this one. Guys that are banged up, including myself, will have to get treatment and get as healthy as we can and get ready to go win on the road next week."
On the confidence playing next week
"That's my mindset right now. I want to play, I wanted to play out there tonight but its what's best for the team. If I'm not 100 percent healthy then that's not what this team needs, but I plan on being 100 percent healthy. I'll do everything I can in the training room and the weight room this week to try to get myself back to 100 percent."
On the play WR Amari Cooper got deep
"It was just, I thought he was doing one thing and he did another thing. He might have thought I was doing one thing. It was a big miscommunication. At the end of the day it's my fault though. I got to give him a chance at it."
On getting the running game going
"We'll see. Again, Denver did a great job of stopping the run. We had some success the last time against them, but today they stopped it pretty well. We'll have to watch the film and then see and go from there."
On the play he was injured on
"I wasn't really playing any attention to it. I was downfield took a shot and wasn't really thinking about where I got hit. You don't really think about when you get hit, you just know you get hit. I got hit pretty good at the play. I saw the hit on the replay and saw it was helmet to helmet. But sometimes that happens. You got to take those shots at the quarterback."
Raiders Running Back DeAndré Washington
On the quarterback carousal
"It's just football, man. Whoever's behind center, we've got to rock with it. We understand that, so it's not an excuse for us. We're not looking to point fingers and make any excuses. We've got to keep going."
On play of Connor Cook
"He did a good job. I think he made his plays. The Broncos made some good plays, but he sat back there and was poised and made some good plays."
On Connor Cook's presence in the huddle
"He's definitely confident. He played some bigtime football back at Michigan State. He didn't lose too many games, so he definitely commanded the huddle."
On moving on to the playoff game against Houston
"It's playoff time. We'll look at the film, see what we did wrong, correct them and move forward."
