RB Darren McFadden powers his way into the end zone for the touchdown. Photo by Tony Gonzales
Head Coach Dennis Allen
On the game: "I'll start off – really there's no injures of significance to report. I thought our guys went out there and competed hard. I thought they played extremely hard in the game. For us to go out and start off in this game down 14-0 and battle back the way our guys battled back to take the lead in the game shows a lot of character of the guys we have in the room. Make no mistake about it, there are no moral victories in the National Football League. We competed, but at the end of the day, we didn't get the thing done. There's a lot of things we have to learn from on this tape. I thought we did a lot of really good things, but also thought there's some critical mistakes we made that we have to make sure we get corrected. With that, I'll open it up for questions."
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On Terrelle Pryor:** "I think you can see that he provides a spark and he has some things that he can do and create with his feet. I think that was outstanding. I think, overall, I was pleased with his performance. There's still a lot of things we have to get cleaned up with him. Any time you have a young guy, you're going to have to make some corrections and you're going to have to have some things get cleaned up. That's what we have to continue to work for and to continue to improve."
On getting touchdown overturned but still scoring on same possession: "I think it's a confidence builder for our offense and our football team. I think there were some times we had to overcome some adversity and overcome some tough situations and we were able to battle through and still be able to put some points on the board. So that was good to see that we were able to overcome that and still be able to get that touchdown there."
On throwing QB Andrew Luck off his game: "I think eventually we got him into a little bit 3rd-and-longer situations and we were able to get a little bit of pressure on him. I think that's the key. With all good quarterbacks, you have to be on your game every single play. We have to do a better job. We had a couple times where we had him dead to rights and couldn't get him on the ground. He's a big, strong quarterback. And then one time we let him scramble down there in the red zone. I thought overall defensively I was pleased but again, in the critical situations, that's when we have to be able to execute and that's when we have to be able to make the plays. Unfortunately, they made more of them in those critical situations."
On Pryor's first interception: "He was late with the ball. And again, that's one of those young mistakes that you make and hopefully he'll learn from it and move forward and not make that mistake again."
On Pryor's second interception: "The second one he's trying to make the play on a big play down the field. I don't think he saw the guy sliding in there, but some of those happen. Some of those happen."
On if Pryor has earned another start: "Yeah, yeah. I thought Terrelle gave us a chance to win the football game. And not just Terrelle, I thought offensively. I thought our team, they went out and competed and we had a chance to win the football game and that's what you want on a week in and week out basis. Now, there's still a lot of errors and things we got to get corrected so we can win these football games. And that's what our focus is going to be on going forward."
On second half pass rush: "Again, like I said earlier, I think we were able to get him in a little longer yardage situations, a little bit more favorable down and distance to bring a little bit of pressure. I think we thought we could get some pressure on him. We weren't able to really get it on him early, but as the game wore on, we made a few adjustments and were able to get a little bit of pressure on him."
On Pryor earning starting job during preseason: "I thought Terrelle earned the job in the preseason and I thought he did some really good things in the game tonight. There's still a lot of growing we have got to continue to do with Terrelle, but I was pleased with the way he came out. Listen, we moved the football team down the field and that's what you're looking for."
On confidence in team going forward: "I had that feeling about this team anyway. I like this team; I've said that from the very beginning. I like their mindset. I like the way they go about their business. I think the fact that it shows a lot of character the way they were able to battle back from being 14 down in the first quarter. There are still a lot of things we have to get cleaned up and that's where we have to improve. The mindset is there, the execution is what we have to continue to improve."
On if TE Jeron Mastrud cramped up on his 41-yard catch: "I'm not sure exactly what it was. I don't think he was outrunning them anyway, but…"
QB Terrelle Pryor
On the game:"I'm angry with myself, to be honest. At the end of the day, a lot of the mistakes I made today, I can get better at and learn from. But at the end of the day, I'm very proud of the offensive line. They did a phenomenal job. Every play I made was because of them. Having great leaders like Darren McFadden and Marcel Reece are great being on the field too, making key blocks for me so I get the ball. I'm disappointed in myself, for one taking a sack in the red zone. Coach talks to me about that all the time and its unacceptable. The loss is on me and we'll get better for next week."
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On the sack: **"I went through one progression and saw somebody coming in, but at the end of the day I got to throw the ball away, and I've been in those situations before and made the same mistake and I can't make the same mistake. That's why I am very disappointed, but I learned a couple of things today and I can put it in my bag of tricks and bring it out for next weekend and keep learning."
On people thinking the Raiders didn't have a chance to win: "Absolutely, but it doesn't matter. I know in this locker room, it's kind of funny and you can laugh at that type of statement right there because we feel every time we step on the field, we're going to have a chance, so I don't agree with any of those statements."
On what the Raiders showed today:"Yeah, that we're tough, tough football team. Tough defense, tough offensive line and tough runners and great receivers that block downfield and get open to make tough catches and we are a tough football team. Coach preaches it all the time and that is how we practice. I am very happy with the team and the way we competed today. No moral victories, obviously, and we got to get better and we will tomorrow and the thing about this team right here is passion for the game. It wasn't acceptable, we didn't accept today that we lost. I know I didn't and I know a lot of the guys didn't so I know that they are going to come into tomorrow and expect to learn and look at and critique themselves very crucial and look at the film and understand what we did wrong and we need to fix this because I hate losing."
On his first start of the season:"I did awful, I thought. Two interceptions, could have won the game, had them on the ropes down there and that's all that matters. The record is all that matters to me, being 1-0, or whatever the record may be. That number on the win column, that's all that matters to me. It's not about me, it doesn't matter how I play. I just want to do well for the team so we can have success."
On winning the starting QB job:"It's surely not about that. Being Matt's (Flynn) teammate, all the guys that are competing and at the end of the day we are all for the same goal to win and that's all I want to do. Does it feel better that it's me that won? Absolutely. I am not going to sit here and act like I'm not happy about it, but now it's time to go to work. Today was unacceptable."
On building on the positives:"I'll check out the positives and just keep trying to get better at the positive things. I am just very angry at myself about the interceptions. We had a chance, especially throwing the ball. I think the main thing right there, if I was writing in your note pad, would be I didn't throw the ball away down there, I believe it was maybe first-and-10, I can't remember what happened. We will get better. I'm very eager to get to work tomorrow and be in there early and get better."
WR Denarius Moore
On the game: "I definitely think we came out here and proved a point that we can compete with the best teams. Even if they had us at the bottom of the list, we came out here and showcased our talents."
On Terrelle Pryor:"I think he stepped up and put the team on his back. You can't fault him for that one mistake because there's been times where we messed up and he turned around and made up for our mistakes. He carried us the whole game."
On if Pryor has shown what he can do in practice: "It's always been there. He's always showcased his talents. He was given his chance today and he just carried it on."
On positives from the game:"It's a positive and a negative. The negative is learn from our mistakes, and don't let them happen again. Positive, we can see what we can do, correct our mistakes, and then come back later on down the road when we find ourselves in the same position, we know what to do."
RB Darren McFadden
On the season: "I feel like we played good out there, but there's no moral victories in this league. You have to go out there and win on the scoreboard. There's a lot of things that we can build off. We did a lot of good things out there. We made some mistakes that we can come back and correct next week and just keep building."
On Terrelle Pryor: "Terrelle did a great job out there. Like I said, we made a couple mistakes, but he did a great job out there. This team has a lot of faith in him. He's only going to get better during the year."
On the Colts defense: "Those guys were doing a great job out there. We felt like once we felt them getting tired we wanted to just go at them, and keep punching at them. I feel like that's something we tried to do out there, but we just came up short in the end."
On the offensive line:"The offensive line did a great job out there. Those guys were phenomenal all game. They were picking up blocks left and right, and opening up holes. It's the first game of the season, and we're going to keep getting better. I'm looking forward to having a good season this year."
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WR Rod Streater**
On Terrelle Pryor:"I think he did well and I know there was a lot thrown at him and he continued to keep plays alive when plays broke down so I felt like he did his part and we just came up short."
On Colts defense being demoralized after big Pryor runs:"Yeah, in the fourth quarter especially you can tell they were tired and he continues to run and he had a lot of juice at the end and it's just that we came up short. And they played a good game."
On the loss:"It's a tough loss. But one game won't make us. We'll correct the mistakes and come out ready for Jacksonville. It's just one loss and it's the beginning of the season so we got a long season ahead."
TE Jeron Mastrud
On if he cramped up during game:"Yeah. I thought I got kicked in the leg on that play D-Mac (Darren McFadden) caught for a touchdown where they reviewed. I thought I got kicked but he's like 'No, it looked like you were cramping' and then it bit me on that play. Bad timing." On Terrelle Pryor:"Yeah, he went out there, he made plays. He did what was asked of him and some. There's a lot of guys out there, including myself, that this is their first time really being in a starting position and same for him. We all had to go out there and make plays and contribute, so we'll take a step forward from here."
FS Charles Woodson
On positives from the game:"Well the positive thing is that this is a team that no matter where you are at in the ball game, we all felt that we had a chance to win and we thought that all the way through the game. Unfortunately we didn't come out with the win, but the moral victories or whatever it is, but we had a chance to win the game, so whatever side of the field late in the game it is to preserve the victory or get points on the board, we got to do it and I think defensively we dropped the ball on the last drive allowing them to go 80 yards or whatever it was to score. So we allowed ourselves to win, we just didn't pull it out."
On what he can say to Terrelle Pryor:"Hey man, keep your head up because the way he played gave us a chance to win and that's all we can ask of him. There are a lot of people that don't think much of Terrelle Pryor and don't think much of a lot of people on this team, but he gave us a chance to win on offense and gave us a chance to win on a lot of plays out there today. We were up in that game and so we got to pull it out."* *
On Andrew Luck:"We had opportunities to get off of the field and we didn't get off of the field. So as a defense, if you want to call yourself a good defense, those are situations that we are going to have all year long where we are going to have to get it done and get off of the field on the third-and-short or third-and-long, whatever it may be and allow our offense to get back on the field and possibly get more points."
