Defensive Coordinator Ken Norton Jr.
Thursday afternoon, Oakland Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. addressed the media to talk about getting the team ready for Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints. The team has a tough task with Pro Bowl quarterback Drew Brees, but Norton is preparing his group to be ready to take the field.
Here are the quick hits from his time at the podium:
Norton praised Brees' ability to throw accurate passes to the weapons around him.
"Well, you can see as you watch the film and you're watching plays. He's really, really good. He understands how to get rid of the ball, really accurate. He has really good tools around him and he's certainly going to be a challenge for us."
He discussed wanting the players to be obsessed with developing and getting better.
"We made sure that they understand that it's all about competition, all about our practice, all about improvement. We want everybody to be obsessed with improvement, getting better every time they come on the field in practice. And, improvement is very, very important. We're talking about Karl [Joseph], but that's every single person on this defense."
Norton is confident in the defensive line with defensive end Mario Edwards Jr., currently on the Injured/Reserved list.
"Absolutely. The guys wouldn't have made the team if we weren't very confident in them. We have a really good group of guys who have really made a strong commitment to our growth as a team, their growth as individuals. They are really committed to playing this game at a very high level, so we're very, very confident in our rotation."
**He shared his thoughts about veteran safety Reggie Nelson, and what about Nelson hsa impressed him the most.
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"Well, the fact that he shows up every day. Reggie really is obsessed with playing ball. He really cares about winning. He hasn't stayed around this long, he's played a long time and has a lot of ball under his belt. He hasn't stayed around this long without loving what he does. He has a real strong passion for the game, always trying to improve and it's recognizable. When you have success like that, people are attracted to it, they really understand."
Norton acknowledged former Raiders safety Charles Woodson's prediction about the Raiders winning the Super Bowl.
"Absolutely. Charles [Woodson], you know we have a lot of respect for Charles. He's certainly implanted a print on what we're doing here. He's put a finger print and hand print on the young players here and he's really set a high standard. We can only hope to play at the standard he plays at."
