Head Coach Dennis Allen
On the game: "I saw improvement from the first preseason game to preseason game number two. There's still a lot of things we need to improve on. Obviously, we spent a lot of time practicing against the Cowboys and really working against the Cowboys; really limited as far as what we did game plan-wise in this game. But I thought we let them kind of grab the momentum early in the game, which was disappointing, but then offensively, we were able to respond back. Then defense was able to get a stop and kind of get a little bit of momentum going back for us. I was proud of the way…guys just they kept fighting, they kept competing. I think any time you're able to get a win, I think it's a positive for your football team. So there's a lot of things we've got to learn from, but it's a lot better to do that after a win."
On Derek Carr's injury: "He had a concussion and that's really the only update I have."
On if Carr playing with the first team offense was planned: "Well no, after we took the ball down there and scored, we talked about it on the sideline. We were going to get Matt [Schaub] out and we decided to go ahead and give Derek a series behind the first offensive line with the ones and just see how he reacted. There really wasn't anything to that."
On Carr's play: "I thought he was better in this game. I thought he made some improvement. I thought there was some times where he threw the ball really accurately and sometimes he made some good decisions. There's still some plays out there that wish we could have back, but I thought overall he took a step forward from where he was at last week."
On protection when Schaub was in the game: "We'll have to go back and look at it to figure out exactly what happened. They were a little bit more aggressive with their game plan in this game than what they had showed in their first preseason game. Any time the quarterback gets hit, you don't like it, but we'll go back and make the corrections that we need to make and get that shored up."
On Schaub's play under pressure: "I thought he held up fine. The first drive of the game, we're on schedule and we're doing good things and moving the football. Unfortunately the ball pops up in a kind of a bad luck interception that they're able to turn into, I think it was, plus-36 or something like that. That was kid of a bad luck play, but I thought overall I thought he did well. I thought the touchdown drive he took us on was a heck of a drive."
On the pass defense: "I think we have to improve. I don't think it's where we need it to be yet, but I'm not discouraged about where we're at defensively. I think we're going to be just fine defensively. I think we're going to play good defense. That's really not a concern of mine."
On Khalil Mack not recording a tackle or sack until late in 3rd quarter: "Obviously, there wasn't a ton of production from a standpoint of tackles or assists or sacks or whatever the case may be, but I thought he made improvement from where he was at last week. We'll have plenty more opportunities to do different things and give him maybe a little bit more involved early in the game. He wasn't playing in the nickel; we had [Justin] Tuck and [LaMarr] Woodley out there with the two defensive tackles and we put him in for some 3rd down stuff. Really early in the game he was really limited as far as the snaps that he took. But Khalil Mack is going to be just fine."
On Mack's extended playing time: "It's numbers of plays. It's trying to get his play count up. The only way you can get better is to get experience. I know he was a high draft choice, but he needs to play and that's the only way he's going to get better. So I don't know exactly what the rep count was but it was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 plays or so, which is about where we wanted him to be."
On Andre Holmes not playing much in first half: "No, listen, we wanted to work some different lineups. We wanted to get James [Jones] and Dmoe [Denarius Moore] with the ones and see how that looked. I think we've got some depth at that wide receiver position and I think we've got to look at some different things to see exactly how that whole thing is going to shake up."
On injuries: "[Maurice] Jones-Drew injured his finger. I don't expect that to be any big deal. Tyvon's [Branch] got an ankle. And then Matt McCants and Scott Simonson also had concussions."
On Carr's ribs: "Well he's got sore ribs. I don't know exactly what his ribs are, but the concussion was why he was out of the game."
On using Tuck and Woodley in nickel: "It's based on kind of what our game plan was going into this game. Our game plan was to have those guys on early downs, first and second downs, run-pass downs, playing in the nickel defense. And then we had Khalil in there on third down. So that was just part of the plan this week."
On Mack playing nickel in the future: "He's going to be part of the nickel defense. There's certain plays, certain schematics, certain things you're trying to defend…he's not going to play every down in the game, but he's certainly going to get plenty of snaps. He's certainly going to have the opportunity to go rush the passer."
On if Branch's ankle injury is minor or serious: "I really have no idea. We just got in after the game. Didn't sound like it was major, but it would premature for me to say anything, whether it is or isn't."
On TJ Carrie's 50-yard punt return: "I thought he did some good things in the special teams. I thought our return game really was pretty good today. I was impressed with really all our special teams. I thought the operation on the field goal was outstanding. Seabass [Sebastian Janikowski] was 3-for-3 and really 4-for-4 if you count that 55-yarder. I was pleased with really all around special teams."
On if plan was to get Matt McGloin in the game: "McGloin was going to finish up the game. That was going to be Derek's last series and then McGloin was going to finish up the game. So that was the plan and we just had to get him in there a little bit earlier."
QB Matt Schaub
Q: How did you feel overall? Was there progress made from last week?
Schaub:"Yeah, definitely. I felt comfortable and really got in a little bit of rhythm offensively with the guys, and getting in and out of the huddle and executing some things. It just felt good."
Q: It seemed like it was overall cleaner and there were fewer penalties…
Schaub:"Yeah, definitely. There were fewer penalties, especially pre-snap penalties that put you behind the sticks. There weren't even physical things, they were just mental things the last week, so that was a positive. Definitely still some things we've got to clean up, but overall guys played good football and we found a way to win as a team and that was the important thing."
Q: What is the biggest challenge for you guys between now and the regular season?
Schaub:"Just to continue to improve. Continue to be our own worst critics, continue to look at ourselves each week in the mirror pretty hard and understand what we need to do to get better so that we're ready to go in New York, Week One and come out guns blazing, so that's the big thing."
Q: How big was this win coming off of last week?
Schaub:"It was big for us. It was a total team effort, from everyone that played in the game, from the first quarter to the fourth quarter. Defense made some huge stops and we got a few big plays on special teams, so it was a huge step in the right direction for our team."
Q: Were you surprised when Derek Carr got reps with the first team unit?
Schaub:"No, I wasn't surprised. That was coach's decision, he I guess had guys, myself included in that, on a play count and he decided that after we scored that one touchdown that I was done."
Q: Can you assess his performance?
Schaub:"I thought he did well. I thought he stepped in and made some plays and I'll have to go back and watch the tape, but I thought he did well."
RB Maurice Jones-Drew
Q: What do you think are some of the troubles that you face that you guys need to work on more?
Jones-Drew: "I think, just as a unit, we have a lot of guys from different places and we got to continue to work with each other, understand how we all play, and that's going to take time. But I felt we did better today, moved the ball well, and as long as we continue doing that we'll be alright."
Q: Do you think you guys are gelling?
Jones-Drew:"I think we are. I think we are. I mean everything's a progression. I think we had a drastic change from last week in Minnesota and to come back, especially against a front-seven like Detroit, to be able to move the ball that way and do what we did, I thought it was nice. We have to continue to build on that. I feel like, right now, we're still working and nothing's going to be perfect, but we're getting better each week.
Q: What do you think made that drastic change happen?
Jones-Drew:"A lot of it. I think going down there and scrimmaging the Cowboys was one, getting a lot of live reps against another team. I feel like we just grew a lot down there, so to come back here and to be able to perform that way, was nice and hopefully we continue next week going against Green Bay. We do have some corrections we have to make. We didn't play perfect, but you know, 'Matty Ice' [McGloin] did a great job for us. It's always good to get a win in preseason, at all, period. For us to do that and play the way we played as a first unit, I think we have some room to grow, but we played well."
LB Sio Moore
Q: On the game…
Moore:"I think it was a building block, it was a good building block. We obviously have got to clean up a lot more, we've got to make sure we don't let out leaky runs and we can be more stout on the pass game, and everybody just doing what we know we're capable of doing. We were able to get some three-and-outs going. So, we've got a lot of building blocks but we've also got to keep working. I'm going to make sure I do my part as well, make sure I do everything I can so we can win."
Q: How do you feel about the overall pass rush in the first quarter?
Moore:"I think we had the pieces to get after the quarterback. It's just the more and more we start doing it and we get after it, it's going to get dangerous."
Q: Do you feel like there has been a transitional period between going from training camp to playing other teams?
Moore:"No, I mean I think it's one of those deals where you actually look forward to it because you're itching for competition and more and more competition as the day goes. It's all a great learning experience, but it's enjoyable."
