Safety Reggie Nelson
The Oakland Raiders suffered their first loss of the 2016 campaign on Sunday to the Atlanta Falcons. Overall, it was an offensive shootout between both teams, with the end result being a score of 35-28. Monday morning Raiders safety Reggie Nelson appeared on 95.7 The GAME with Joe Fortenbaugh and Lorenzo Neal to talk about Sunday's loss.
Here are the quick hits from his time on air:
**Nelson made it clear that the team has to move on from this game and continue to develop as a unit.
**
"You got to move on to the next game, but with our coaching staff as good as it is and putting in the time and the work in, getting us in the right position, we need to come out better as a defense as a whole. We've got to play football better than we did Sunday. We've got to help out our offense, help them get on the field, get them the ball while they're still hot. It's a lot of work to do and it's still early in the season, and we just got to watch the film and see what the mistakes were."
He stated that the biggest obstacle standing in the team's way is itself.
"We can be as good as we want to be man, the only people standing in our way is the Raiders. I believe we beat ourselves Sunday and everybody else can disagree, or agree. I feel like we beat ourselves and we could've came out and played better football than what we did Sunday. As a defensive player, from my stand point if you let an offense put 500 yards on you, we're doing something wrong. That's got to be fixed ASAP."
The 10-year veteran believes that the team has the material to be good, it just needs to put it to use.
"It isn't a lack of studying or a lack of effort, or anything like that. Coach Rob [Marcus Robertson] isn't a guy that's in your face, but if he needs to he'll do that. That's what's great about this coaching staff that Mr. Reggie [McKenzie] and Mark [Davis] put together. We got to as a defense, they're just giving us the material, us as players and defensive players have to take that material and put it in play on Sunday."
Nelson talked about going up against quarterback Marcus Mariota and the Titans offense.
"We're going to have our work cut out, especially when you've got a mobile quarterback like him. We're going in their hometown and are trying to take something from them, like the Atlanta Falcons came in here and took something from us. Like I said, we're going to do our job and watch the film, and swallow that pill and come back out ready to play on Sunday."
He conveyed his trust and confidence in Head Coach Jack Del Rio's play calling, and stands by him.
"Nothing man, that just shows the confidence that he sees in us and what he sees day-in and day-out, in practice and stuff. He knows what type of players he's got, he knows what type of defensive players he's got. So I mean for him to make those calls says a lot about our team, and so far we've been backing him up with that. That's what we've got to continue to do, back him up when he makes those difficult calls and put us in those situations. We're not hesitating when he makes them, so continue on. I'm all with it."
