Head Coach Jack Del Rio

The Oakland Raiders have been in Sarasota, Fla., the past few days, as they gear up for their primetime bout with the Miami Dolphins on Sunday Night Football. After falling to the Buffalo Bills in Week 8, Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio has emphasized a sense of urgency, and is working towards getting the team's "mojo" back. Wednesday afternoon, he met with the media to comment on the week ahead, as well as the upcoming matchup with the Dolphins.

Here are the quick hits from his press conference:

Del Rio shared what the mood has been during the team's first few days in Florida.

"Need to get one of those old mood rings. (laughter) Check the mood, you know? I think our guys are ready to get going with the second half of the season. We've got a good group of guys and I feel really good about this group of guys coming together for this second half run."

He talked about whether the team will make any adjustments now that former Miami Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi has been traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I mean, it's similar to a guy getting injured for us. Obviously for them, they don't have him at all anymore, but for us we treat it very similarly to a guy that maybe was injured. Because it's going to be the next man up. Who do they have in their backfield? Is it going to be [Damien] Williams, whose going to get more turns? But their system is not going to change. They're not going to overhaul their system because of a player going down. We've got plenty of tape to study and we'll adjust accordingly."

Del Rio praised second-year linebacker Cory James, and discussed what he's seen from him thus far.

"There were some great examples of him really going and attacking it, getting downhill and making some plays. That was excellent for us. He continues to grow in the position. He's been battling to get himself healthy. I think he's probably closer to being where he'd like to be right now than he's been in a while, so that's good. As a guy, his ability as it becomes clearer, he's more sure and certain of where he's going and certainly having a guy like NaVorro [Bowman] next to him helps him. I think you'll continue to see those kinds of plays being made."

He commented on the current status of safety Karl Joseph.

"We're hopeful, yeah. I think he's going to try and practice a little bit today, we'll see how it goes and see how the week goes. That's still a little bit of a question mark."

When asked about tonight's World Series game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the

Houston Astros, Del Rio said he's just enjoying the competition. "I'm not a predictor of baseball. I've been enjoying it. My team's out, been out for a long time. (laughter) So, I'm glad they're providing some entertaining games to watch. It's really been an exciting series. I don't really have a vested interest in it."