Prior to the Oakland Raiders taking the field Thursday in preparation of their Week 8 matchup with the New York Jets, defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr., held his weekly press conference.
Here are the highlights from his remarks.
The New York Jets want to run the ball.
"They have a certain feeling about the run. They are dedicated to being a good running team. When you dedicate yourself to something, it usually happens. And [Chris] Ivory, he's a fantastic runner. He's strong. He's smart. He's hard working. He has that mentality that he's going for an extra yard."
He also shared his thoughts about safety Charles Woodson being named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month.
"I'll tell you that the time I've been with him, I'm very, very impressed with the person he is, the man he is, the player he is and the influence he has on others. Not only is he really good, he doesn't have a problem with sharing information, making the younger players better, talking to them, sharing the things that made him good…The game is still exciting. The game is still enthusiastic – he still loves the game the way he did before. I'm very impressed with him."
The Raiders defense is fluid.
"You have new players. You have things that you self-scout and you see what defenses work better than other defenses and you have to always – life is always changing. It's always moving, you have to change with it. Our team has certain things that they do well and I have to make sure that I accentuate that."
Linebacker Malcolm Smith just keeps getting better and better.
"Malcolm, he's come a long way. Watching him grow over the years from a high school kid to college to early pro to now, and to see how his game has really blossomed and how he has been able to be very consistent with it. His leadership – I mean, back in the old days, Malcolm would not speak. He would not say a word. Now he's running the defense. He has the microphone in his helmet and he's telling everybody the play now. It's amazing to see the growth and the maturity and the leadership that he's been able to become.
Per usual, Norton's focus is on his defense, not the opposing offense.
"As always, if you spend too much time worrying about the other team, you don't have enough time to worry about yourself. It's very important for us to put ourselves first. We have to worry about us, find out what we're doing, what we play well and how can we have a great practice week, a great practice day and get ourselves ready to play our best game. So our focus is on us right now."
