Q: How much did [Denarius] Moore actually do today?
Coach Jackson: He didn't too much, but he was out there running around a little bit so we'll see where he is tomorrow and go from there.
Q: How much was Darrius [Heyward-Bey] able to do?
Coach Jackson: He did quite a bit. I was really pleased with his practice today so he did some good things in practice, made some plays, caught some balls. Again, we'll see where he is tomorrow too. It's just, again, to see, after you practice like that and run around, just see where your body is the next day – how sore it is, maybe you jarred something loose or something, so we'll see where he is, but he looked good today.
Q: So there was no blow to the head issue with him as far as a concussion of any kind?
Coach Jackson: I think we went through that protocol and I think he passed that. Yeah, I think that part is behind him. It's just now the soreness of the body and exactly where he is.
Q: Did Jarvis [Moss] get hurt in the game?
Coach Jackson: Yes sir.
Q: Was it just worse than everybody thought?
Coach Jackson: Yeah, I mean we've had the nicks. I mean sometimes these things are lingering and the biggest thing is if a guy has something, you just don't want it to carry on through the rest of the year. We're trying to get guys as healthy as we can as fast as we can. Some guys are a little quicker than others, but we're going to do everything we can to make sure we field a team that is healthy.
Q: Are you encouraged that Richard [Seymour] is out there for the first practice in awhile?
Coach Jackson: Absolutely, no doubt. I think we're getting over exactly what it is that was troubling him a little bit, so again, it's a testament to him. He keeps working at it, finds a way to be out there. He was out there last week with his teammates and that's a credit to him. He's one of the leaders on this team and, as he knows, he has to be out there for this football team and he has been.
Q: Given that Darren [McFadden] has now missed a quarter of the season, when he does get back on this field, is it going to take awhile to get him ready to go?
Coach Jackson: Oh, I think it will. I mean, it's hard to come back when you've been gone that long and just hit the ground running and expect him to be exactly what he was before he left. So we'll have a plan to take care of that too. We just want to get him back. That's the most important. I want to get the player back out here to practice at some point in time, whenever that is, our doctors will let me know. Again, as I said, I think we're getting closer to that happening than not happening. We just have to keep playing and keep winning and go from there.
Q: With the penalty situation, I've looked at the referee crew this week, it's Ron Winter. Do you guys scout these referee crews?
Coach Jackson: You better know I do. I know every crew that's coming in here against us – what they call, what they don't call. We know. We have a pretty good idea, but again, that was last week. What happened was last week. We're beyond that and we have to do a better job as players of making sure we handle the penalty issue. I'm sure the officials will do what they need to do and eventually, we'll get this thing solved. Again, we have to do our part. I'm not going to put it on the officials. Like I said, last week was last week. This week is a new week and what we need to do is do a great job of being a good, fundamental football team and take care of business that way.
Q: Winter's crew over the last three years is known for being the top three in the league year in and year out in defensive pass interference calls as well as roughing the passer calls. That information you tend to disseminate amongst the ranks.\
Coach Jackson: I have all that information, but if they're going to call them, as I said before, as long as things are called fairly, I have no problem with it. That's all. Nobody is perfect in this deal. I don't coach perfect, we don't play perfect, nobody officiates perfect. We're all chasing it the best we can. Hopefully we'll do our job on Sunday and they'll do their job Sunday.
Q: Have you seen progress in penalties at practice?
Coach Jackson: I do. Last week's not any indication that things have gotten better and that's the disappointing part. We have officials here, our players talk about it. Like I said, it's not like we're not putting emphasis on it. It would be different if we weren't. This team has. For some reason it just hasn't happened the right way for us yet, but it will. This is the time – why not now? Why not these last six games can we make a statement from that standpoint that we're going to be a team that's not going to be as penalized as much as we have been? We'll see if we can get that done too as we continue to make this last part of the season.
Q: You mentioned the different ways you got Jared [Veldheer] ready to face Jared Allen last week. Is there any way you can simulate the size and strength of a guy like [Julius] Peppers for him?
Coach Jackson: No because Peppers is Peppers and again, we just threw a lot of different guys at Jared and he has responded every week. Again, his teammates understand his challenge and they help him that way by giving him different looks in practice. But at the end of the day, Jared still has to go out there and get it done and I think he welcomes that challenge; he's good at what he does. He'll be the first to tell you, he's got to buckle down. Every week that guy is on the hot seat. He's playing some of the best players in the league. But again, he has that temperament that he likes that and he looks forward to it and hopefully he can out and get some good results.
Q: How would you rate the job he has done this year?
Coach Jackson: I'll tell you what; ask me that when the year is over, then I'll rate it because this thing is a long way from being done. I mean, we have a lot of football ahead of us. I still think this team, not just him, but this whole football team, their best football is ahead of them.
Q: What does Bryan McCann bring to you as a potential returner?
Coach Jackson: For a young man, again, this team is fascinating to me that way. We go get a guy off the street, bring him in, run him around for a couple days and then, 'get in the game!' 'Return a kick.' When he was returning a kick, I see a ball loose, 'hey buddy, do me a favor and make sure you take care of that ball for me.' 'Gotcha Coach.' He was switching the ball in the game, but that's the dialogue we have. These guys come out here and they play hard and they play well for us. The thing that's exciting is that our personnel department is bringing the right people in to give us a chance to put right people with the right fit on this football team to help us. Who knew last week that that was going to happen? That this young man is going to be in the game returning kicks. When I looked back and saw him, which I knew we were putting him back there, I almost lost my breath for a second because I had never seen him do it out here. Here we go. Again, that's as credit to our coaches. It's a credit to our personnel department and then it's a credit to our players that they get themselves prepared and ready because he's carrying the whole organization under his arm, and his teammates and everybody. He did a great job and I look forward to him doing a great job this week.
Q: You heard about the Ndamukong Suh situation. Did it occur to you that hey, we have to play these guys?
Coach Jackson: Did it occur to me? Yeah, I know he's on the schedule. Are you kidding me? Can we make sure he doesn't play against us? I don't know. That's part of the league. I'm sure the league will take care of that. I mean, as I've said before, even with our personal fouls, I just don't think there is any place in the league for things where people can potentially get hurt. I don't condone that by any stretch of the imagination, but again, that's not my player. I have to coach my football team. I'm sure Jim [Schwartz] is going to do what he needs to do with his football team.
Q: How would you council a guy though that seems…?
Coach Jackson: I don't have that issue on this team. We don't; we come close, but we don't have that issue. We're not going to do that. There are some lines that we will not cross here at the Raiders.
Q: With a guy like [Caleb] Hanie, how far back do you watch tape if he only has that one game played last year? Do you go back to college or peewee or how far back do you watch?
Coach Jackson: Let me say this, this is one thing I do know about our defensive staff, we know everything about this young man. We know what he eats, we know where he sleeps, we know exactly what he does because it's important for us to know. Coach Bresnahan will do anything and everything to make sure that this defensive football team is prepared and ready. We know who this young man is. We have a lot of respect for him. He is as good player, he is going to be there quarterback and he's a guy that we have to defeat this week.
Q: With the wide receiver situation – Darrius practiced today and that has to make you feel a little bit better – have you lost any sleep?
Coach Jackson: No, I have not. Again, this is life in the National Football League. You guys have never said…I didn't lose sleep when we lost Darren. I didn't lose sleep when we lost [Matt] Shaughnessy. I didn't lose sleep when we lost anybody; I can't. I mean, it's the next man up in the National Football League. If I start losing sleep, then we have no chance. I'm not going to feel that way. We have very good players here. The next guy has to step up. As I said before, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. That's part of the game. But we're going to do is we're going to go play. Whoever suits up for the Raiders on Sunday is going to go play well. There's no excuses.
Q: If you only have four healthy receivers this weekend, if something were to happen to one or two of them during the game, what would be your contingency plan? Would it be different personnel packages?
Coach Jackson: Absolutely. We'll keep playing. They're not going to call the game off, I promise you that. They're not going to say, 'hey Raiders, let's play the game in three days when everybody is healthy.' No, we have to go finish the game so we always have a plan in place to make sure that if people can't play, we'll put the next guy in there and away we go.
Q: Does it help that you have some versatile players like a Marcel Reece and even David Ausberry who played wide receiver in college?
Coach Jackson: Absolutely. David Ausberry, Marcel, Richard Gordon, Kevin Boss – we'll do whatever we need to do to make sure we give ourselves the best opportunity to win. And I respect and understand everybody's questions because there has been some guys that are down, nicked or whatever that is. We'll be fine. Please, don't feel sorry for us. We'll find a way.
Q: What about [Terrelle] Pryor – is he one of those options, emergency receiver options?
Coach Jackson: No, I wouldn't have him to do that. I don't see him that way. He's a quarterback and that's the position he plays so no I would not put him in that situation.
