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Quick Hits From Coach Del Rio on SiriusXM

Head Coach Jack Del Rio was a guest on SiriusXM NFL Radio Wednesday morning.

He spoke on a variety of topics, giving an update on what's happening at the Raiders practice facility as well as the progress of QB Derek Carr.

Here are the highlights from his interview.

On what's going on in Oakland:

Coach Del Rio:"It's been really good. A lot of collective effort went into the draft process. [General Manager] Reggie [McKenzie] and the scouts, and myself and the coaches, the way we worked together and went through the process, and shared information and went about selecting guys, and then recruiting the guys that we signed as undrafted that we think have a chance to come in and compete for some spots and some time -- we feel very good about that process. I think when we started, we had a lot of needs, a lot of holes on the board when we started with free agency and the draft coming up, and went through the offseason very aggressively, attacking the roster, and feel like we've made it a lot more competitive, so that's been really good. The energy in the building is outstanding. We have work crews right now constructing our fields. We have two new multi-directional fields going in and a new weight room being constructed – a lot of good things going on right now, so the energy is through the roof right now here in the building."

On how things are coming together with Defensive Coordinator Ken Norton, Jr.:

Coach Del Rio:"Kenny is doing a great job. Because we took Amari [Cooper], we did not take a pass rusher at the top, a guy that would come in and you say you know he's going to impact the pass rush."

Check out who's currently on the roster for the Oakland Raiders.

On the Raiders push rush going forward:

Coach Del Rio:"We have Khalil Mack. We know he's an impactful guy, and then we have to develop the other guys. We have Benson [Mayowa] on one side. We have some opportunities. We took a guy late, Max Valles, that had nine sacks last year in college. We'll give these guys an opportunity to compete and to give us that element coming off the other edge. I know having two guys really makes it good, and ideally you'd like to have two guys that are premium guys rushing the quarterback, and we feel like we have one in Khalil Mack and we're going to have to develop that second guy."

On how he's changing the culture:

Coach Del Rio:"It's already flipped. I can just tell you, you can come through here and you'll feel it yourself. The way we meet. The energy that we take the field with, that we sustain throughout practice, the way we're demanding the players, the coaches, everybody buying into the same message. I was asked yesterday about the mystique; is there a mystique? Let me tell you what the mystique was. It was people knowing they were going to get pounded when they played the Raiders, that there was going to be physicality. There was fear that was developed through the physical play of this football team. We want to bring that physicality back. We want to bring that swagger back, but it has to be the kind of swagger that is controlled, that is calculated, that is fundamentally sound, disciplined and plays winning football."

On QB Derek Carr:

Coach Del Rio:"He's [Carr] been really good. This is a guy that's really competitive. The kind of worker that you know you have to be to be successful at this position in this league. Just a tireless commitment to learning the offense, to spending time with his teammates, to doing things the right way, to leading with example and with words; really excited to work with him and surrounding him with some talent, have some guys he can throw to. I think he throws a great deep ball, and we didn't throw that many here last year; we're going to throw some this year, so you're going to have to cover the field deep, and we feel like with a good defense and a run game, that has to help a young quarterback. We're excited about what we're putting together around him. We don't want him to have to just carry us, but he's a good, young player and we're excited to work with him."

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