On Darrius Heyward-Bey: "He's doing better. He's, I believe, been released from the hospital. He had a concussion and he's got a neck strain. He'll make a full recovery. He's going to be fine; we'll just have to evaluate him and see where he's at as far as when we get him back."
On the play that caused the injury: "Listen, it's the game of football. I don't think people are trying to go out there and hurt people. I think the safety was playing the game fast and physical. It's a tough game to play when you're making split second decisions on how you play the game. It's the unfortunate thing that happens in this game, but we move on from it."
On if he's spoken with Heyward-Bey: "Yeah, I talked to him this morning."
On how Heyward-Bey sounded: "He sounded tired, but he's doing okay. He was in good spirits; he's doing fine. And we're looking forward to getting him back."
On prognosis of injury: "Not really, I think the concussion is obviously the bigger issue than anything else right now. I think he's a guy that we're going to have to continue to evaluate and see where he's at. We were all pleased to see that it wasn't anything severe as far as a neck injury or anything like that."
On Brandon Myers' concussion: "He did, he got that late in the game. Brandon has been in here today and feels fine, no headaches. He's still got to go through the protocol of passing all the tests, but it didn't seem to be severe."
On how involved he gets in concussion protocol: "Well, that's what we do as an organization. I don't get individually involved specifically, but we all know what we've got to do. Players' safety is the biggest concern and we're not going to put a guy back out on the field until we know it's safe to put him out there."
On possible concussions during games: "Well, there's rules in place to take care of those things and I'll let the people in charge of those things take care of them."
On if he was surprised that no flag was thrown on the play: "It's a judgment call."
On Michael Huff playing corner: "I thought there were some things he did well. Obviously, it's been awhile since he's been out there so there's a learning process out there. It's not like you just go out there and he looks like an All-American or All-Pro player the first time he goes out there. So there's going to be a learning process for him. The great thing is he was able to learn and we were able to get the win. I would expect the next time he goes out there he'll be a little bit better."
On Huff giving a lot of cushion to receivers: "Just has to do with playing back out there on an island and you're all by yourself out there so it's just developing that confidence to know that he can do it and we've got all the confidence in the world that he'll be able to do that."
On the team: "I think things that I've known all along, we've got it in us to be a mentally tough team and compete and fight and keep going until the very end. That's what you have to do to win consistently in this league and that's what our guys did yesterday."
On validating the zone blocking scheme: "Any time you have success, it reinforces the message that you've been trying to preach, so it was good for our players, for our staff, for our organization, to see some of the fruits of our labor. Listen, we're not a finished product. We still have a lot of work to do and that's why we're meeting today to get all those corrections made and hopefully we'll get them taken care of and we won't make the same mistakes when we go against Denver next week."
On if previous concerns were addressed during the game: "Yeah, every week it's something different. No game is ever perfect and there's always things you've got to improve on. And there's things from week to week that you get better at. I thought our run game was better in the game the other day. The fact that we were able to get two takeaways on defense was improvement. The fact that we were able to create field position with our special teams that was an improvement. Our third down conversions on offense was an improvement was a big part of why we won the game yesterday. So yeah, there were some things in that game that we improved on and now the challenge is can you continue to improve on them on a weekly basis."
On if he had a chance to celebrate the win: "Yeah, we had a good time. Had some friends over and enjoyed it."
On the time when DHB was on the ground: "Well, it was tough. I was actually out on the field watching everything as it took place and it was a scary situation. We're blessed and we're fortunate that he's going to be fine. That's part of this game that we play and it's the tough part of the game, but we're happy that Darrius is going to be fine."
On the emotional energy and focus after the injury: "Well, that's a difficult challenge and it's really a difficult challenge for both teams because there's a flow of the game that you get into and the flow of the game was stalled there for a second. I thought our guys did a great job of refocusing and doing the things we had to do to win that football game. I thought we did a nice job of that."
On Carson Palmer's poise and what Coach has seen from him: "Same things I've been seeing since I've been here. That's why we're glad that we've got the quarterback that we have because he's been through a lot of different things and seen a lot of different things and he doesn't let a lot of things distract him. He's got singleness of purpose and I thought he did a great job the whole game and then even especially there at the end of the game."
On the tough throws made by Palmer: "I thought if there was one thing you take out of the game from Carson where he had a big improvement, his accuracy, especially under duress, was outstanding. He understands how to play the game. He can fit the ball into tight windows and we need our quarterback to play like he played yesterday."
On T Willie Smith: "Overall, I thought he graded out pretty well. There's still some areas for improvement that he's got to make. For a young guy to come in and play against a defense like that, I thought he played well."
On areas for improvement: "I think there's a lot of areas for improvement. Defensively, we've got to be able to get off the field on third down and when they get down in the red zone, we have to make them kick field goals and not score touchdowns. That was a big thing in the game. That led to a big difference in time of possession so we've got to improve in that area. Offensively, I thought we did a better job. Obviously, we have to be able to protect the ball. We have to do a better job of staying on our feet and not slipping down, which is what happened on the one interception. There's going to be areas that we've got to improve in every week."
On the week heading into Denver: "It'll be just like every other week. It's going to be a division opponent. It's a big game, but we can't get into individualism. This is a team game. We've got a challenge to face the Denver Broncos and we're going to come up with a good plan and our players are going to execute and we're going to go try to win a game."
On returning to Denver: "Sure, it'll be a different feel. That's another one of those distractions that you can't let take over. It's not about me. It's not about Dennis Allen versus the Denver Broncos. It's about the Oakland Raiders versus the Denver Broncos. We're going to need a lot more than just me out there to go win a game. Our focus is going to be on our team trying to exploit whatever weaknesses Denver has and eliminate the times they're able to exploit whatever vulnerabilities we have."
On looking for a wide receiver: "That's a potential. We'll look at that; Reggie and I will talk personnel this afternoon, so we'll see."
On the energy from the fans: "Yeah, it was going pretty good. We've got a great group of fans. Raider Nation is probably, they're the most passionate fans that I've ever been around. That was a great feeling and we need that energy. The players feed off of it. The coaches feed off of it. It's a big factor in the game."
On what he's done to bring penalties down: "Just do your job, be disciplined, do it right. Don't do things that are going to cost your football team. Like I said before, at the end of the day, I have to do a good job of bringing it to their attention, players have to do the job of getting it corrected. And they've done a nice job of that through three games."
On if he thinks they've silenced the criticism of the zone blocking scheme: "Maybe for a week? That's the way it is and we understand that. We've got to go out and we've got to execute on a week by week basis and that's what the challenge for us is. That's why playing in the National Football League is so hard because you have to be able to bring it for 16-straight weeks. We'll go back to work this week. We'll have a good plan for Denver and we'll be ready to roll."
On if he thought the offense would take time: "I think it takes time for anything any time there is something new. Any time there's change it takes some time for guys to understand how to work together and how different situations are going to play out. So yeah, you expect it's going to take a little bit of time and it was nice to see some of the results this week."
On studying Peyton Manning: "I've studied him a lot in the past. I haven't got a chance really to really focus in on them. I'll spend the better part of this afternoon and tonight and tomorrow getting a good feel for them. He's obviously a great player; he's a Hall of Fame player. We've got our hands full with him."
On the Denver defense Coach Allen previously coached: "Well, I've seen what they've done. They're doing some of the same things we did last year and they've got their new little wrinkles that they're doing. I think Jack Del Rio does a great job coaching defense. He's always been an outstanding defensive football coach. So yeah, and you watch those guys that you coached and watch them play and they're doing a good job on defense. They're flying around, playing fast, and we've got our work cut out for us."
On if mile-high atmosphere is an advantage for Denver: "I don't recall anything in particular where we just said, 'hey, we're going to try to use this as an advantage.' It's a tough place to play. I think they've got a good fan base, it gets loud. But we've got to go play against a good opponent and we've got to get ready to play the game."
On Philip Wheeler: "He loves playing the game of football. It's fun for him. It's not work for him. He enjoys it, he flies around and he tries to make every play on the field that he can. So he's the type of guy that we're looking for and he's done a real good job for us and we're happy we got him."
On the dirt infield: "I think we're the only team that plays on a dirt infield. Yeah, but that's something we've got to deal with, the opponent has to deal with it. It's another one of those outside distractions that you don't have any control over, you just understand what you're dealing with, and understand how you've got to play on the dirt. And then you move on."
On the A's possibly going to the playoffs: "I hope they win. Is there any way we can get a grass infield and they can still win?"
On offensive line playing better because of continuity and having Stefen Wisniewski in his second game: "I think that has a lot to do with it. In our scheme, the center has to be responsible for a lot of different things and he was one player that we thought he made a big step forward this week as far as not only his play, but getting his target in the right areas and doing those kinds of things. I think as we develop some continuity in our offensive line and we're able to keep the same five guys playing on a week-by-week basis, we'll do nothing but get better."
On the no-huddle offense: "It'll be a part of our offense and we'll see on a week-by-week basis. Again, everything is game planned on a week-by-week basis so just because we ran it this week, doesn't mean we'll run it next week. We'll have to see what we think gives us the best chance to win."
On if he liked how Palmer did with no-huddle: "I was pleased with the way that the no-huddle went yesterday."
