Head Coach Jack Del Rio
The major question this week was who would be the Oakland Raiders starting quarterback come Saturday. Wednesday afternoon, Head Coach Jack Del Rio announced that rookie quarterback Connor Cook would get the green light for the team's playoff bout against the Houston Texans. The Raiders commander-in-chief talked about the team's confidence in Cook moving forward, and said that that the staff will do everything necessary to get him game ready.
Here are the quick hits from his presser:
Del Rio talked about what went into the decision to make Cook the starter for this weekend's game.
"It's really an easy option. He played pretty well when he went in and Matt's hurt. We're hoping to get Matt healthy enough to be in a backup role. Right now, that remains a question."
He shared how the team will approach getting No. 8 prepared for his first career start.
"We'll do the best we can to prepare him. The great thing about it is he's been here, been in our system, mentally been engaged in what we do and how we do it all year. I'm sure he'll lean on the majority of that. There's only so much you can catch up all at once. At the end of the day, you don't try and have him go around the clock here. He wouldn't be at his best. We'll manage the process of preparing him and giving him what he needs. We'll get ourselves ready to go play."
Del Rio commented on the rookie's performance against the Denver Broncos, and how he looked after stepping in for Matt McGloin.
"I would say the most impressive thing was when he went into a very difficult set of circumstances, and I thought he handled himself extremely well. I thought the poise was there. The moment didn't look too big for him. I thought he did a real nice job leading the team down and moving the ball. We're looking forward to playing as a team. What happens is that position gets so much attention, understandably. For us, it's about letting one young man do his job, and the rest of us worry about ours."
He discussed what Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney did successfully the first time the two team's faced off this season
"Yeah, he was very disruptive, very disruptive, and so was [Vince] Wilfork. I think those two guys were a tough matchup. They'll be tough again. They're good players. There's a reason that they rank on top of the league in gross yardage allowed and that they've been tough to run against because they're not even using an extra man in the box very often. They play with a lighter box and they count on those big guys to be disruptive. They've done a nice job up front, and that's without J.J. [Watt]. That's a pretty strong job by a very good front."
Del Rio emphasized his confidence in the team, and believes the team can get the job done on the road.
"I think we embraced the process of preparing and we've traveled well and we prepare well and then we go down and compete. I think that's what it's been about all year. That's what it'll be about again this week."
