Head Coach Jack Del Rio
The Oakland Raiders completed their sixth fourth quarter comeback victory of the season on Sunday and have already initiated their preparation for the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday. The primetime showdown will be the second matchup between the division rivals this season and could hold a lot of significance down the line.
Head Coach Jack Del Rio held his weekly press conference at the team's Alameda, Calif., facility and briefly recapped the team's 38-24 win over the Buffalo Bills. He emphasized the team's focus on preparing for the AFC West bout and that the team is excited for the challenge.
Here are the quick hits from Del Rio's press conference:
**The Raiders skipper talked about the team's preparation for Thursday and what it's like recovering on a short week.
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"I think you do the best you can to recover as we begin our preparations. That's just part of it. I know late in my career, if you played on a Thursday, you're going to take some soreness into the game, typically. The older guys for sure. Some of the younger guys even. So that's a little different, taking soreness into a ball game. We're going to be excited to play. That's kind of how we're looking at it. Tough set of circumstances. We don't mind tough things. We're looking forward to the challenge."
Del Rio commended the professionalism of veteran safety Nate Allen and his ability to step up when needed.
"He's a pro. He's done a real nice job of being unselfish, just doing what he can for the team and always being prepared, into the game plan and ready to go on a moment's notice. So, a lot like TJ [Carrie] stepping in in a bigger role with DJ [Hayden] going down. I feel like Nate really has been a pro, a good solid player. It's good to have that kind of depth that we can go to. And certainly, he's had an impact for us on special teams for us throughout the year, but showed up big yesterday."
He recapped rookie linebacker/defensive end James Cowser's performance on Sunday and what he excels at.
"He's aware. I mean, the guy had a ton of sacks in college. He's got natural ability, he's got great awareness. I think when you have a quarterback that runs around like Tyrod [Taylor] does, it's good to have awareness, because you never know where he might pop up. I thought he did a great job adjusting his rush right there and closing the lane off and getting the sack."
**Del Rio expressed his satisfaction that in the second half of the game all three phases contributed to the win.
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"It really was. And it was each of the three phases contributing and that's that complementary football we're looking for and it was an awesome display of it right there for that run. You get Marquette [King] pinning it down, Andre [Holmes] going down, Taiwan [Jones] and working that ball and getting it stopped there at the 2 [yard line], defense coming up with a big turnover and offense taking advantage of it and scoring, just a good run and all three phases doing well."
He broke down how linebacker Bruce Irvin has served as a nice complement to Khalil Mack in the pass rush.
"Exactly that. He is a complementary aggressive rush guy on the opposite that makes it difficult to lean too heavy one way or the other. Those guys, they play a lot of snaps and they bring it every snap. Really happy to have Bruce. I think he's been a great addition for us. You guys have been asking. You didn't ask about Mario [Edwards Jr.] yet, but he is going to return to practice, so we'll begin that window where we get him up to speed. But he will be out there today."
