Head Coach Jack Del Rio
Prior to practice Wednesday afternoon, Oakland Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio addressed the masses, and talked about this week's opponent.
Here's the transcript from his presser:
Opening Statement: "We're getting ready for a trip to D.C. to take on the Redskins, a good football team. They've run the ball as well as anybody in the league to start the season in the first two weeks. They've got a quarterback that threw for almost 5,000 yards last year. Weapons, tight ends, a quarterback turned wide receiver that's having a good start to his year in [Terrelle] Pryor. Got a defense with really good players throughout the defense. In particular, [Ryan] Kerrigan and Josh Norman stand out. We're looking forward to, as we do each week, getting ready for the next challenge, the next opportunity to go compete and getting ready to put forth a great effort."
Q: I know you weren't here when Pryor was here, but how impressed have you been with his transition to wide receiver?
Coach Del Rio:"Yeah, when I last studied him he was a quarterback. Obviously, a tremendous athlete. He's done a great job transitioning. Not a lot of people are able to do that. He's gone from an athletic quarterback that could take off and run sometimes with a powerful arm and turned himself into a dynamic threat as a wide receiver. Big, fast, physical and his skill level is getting better and better each year."
Q: How do you envision utilizing Karl Joseph on defense moving forward?
Coach Del Rio:"Talking about with Karl and what we did with him off the edge some? That falls into strategy. Obviously, he's an aggressive guy, he likes to come, he likes to be brought. He makes plays happen when he does. We'll pick our spots as we do with everything but it was good to see him have a nice, productive game last week."
Q: He had the play in the opener. Are you seeing him make these good plays because he's healthy?
Coach Del Rio:"That's what he's supposed to do. he's supposed to make plays. He's a guy we selected because we thought he'd be a guy that could come in and impact on our defense. In the first two games of this year he's played well. There are still things like I tell you all the time that have cleaning up to do, work to do, improve on but he's off to a good start and obviously it follows up from a good offseason. Healthy, a lot of good work and confidence that he's gaining as we go."
Q: In what ways do you think Reggie Nelson is better this year?
Coach Del Rio:"Reggie's been doing it a long time so he's not going to see as big of a jump as a younger player will. Reggie's been, for a long time, a really good player. Led the league in picks in '15. Reggie is pretty solid, pretty steady. I think we're talking about two different guys. Talking about a young player who's making a big jump in year two and we're talking about a veteran player who's been playing at a high level for a long time."
