The Oakland Raiders officially kicked off their on-field preparation Wednesday for their division matchup against the San Diego Chargers this Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium.
Prior to his team taking the field, Head Coach Jack Del Rio held his first press conference of the week.
Here are the highlights from his remarks.
Head Coach Del Rio spoke about his familiarity with Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy.
"Mike does a good job. I was with Mike back in Carolina and then again in Denver in 2013. Mike will do a good job preparing his squad and he's got a good team."
He also shared his impressions of quarterback Philip Rivers.
"I think he has a great command of the offense. He's very competitive. He's accurate. He has a lot of weapons that he uses, very much in control of the offense and at the line… He's operating very well right now, top of the league, 500 yards of passing last week in Green Bay against a good defense. We definitely have our work cut out for us."
The Chargers defense presents some challenges to the Silver and Black.
"They bring a lot of different looks, maybe a misfit here or there makes those run numbers not look so good, but it's a good defense. They're very good on third down getting off the field. We feel like that's definitely an area we have to make sure that we're staying ahead of the chains and not getting ourselves in third and forevers."
Defensive End Justin Tuck is not easily replaceable.
"He's a good player, great veteran leadership. We'll miss him on the field, but he's going to remain a leader. He's a captain. He's going to remain a part of this program, do everything he can. He'll still be a captain. He'll still be a guy that is involved in everything we're doing, just not able to play on Sundays."
Newly-signed wide receiver Walt Powell will get a chance to compete.
"We'll give him an opportunity to come in and see how he is as a returner. That's really the main reason he was brought in and we'll give him a chance to compete throughout the week and determine the role as he goes."
