The Oakland Raiders officially began their on-field preparation for their Week 3 matchup with the Cleveland Browns Wednesday.
Prior to his team taking the practice field, Head Coach Jack Del Rio spoke to the assembled media.
Here are the highlights from his press conference.
Head Coach Del Rio spoke about facing Josh McCown, who the Cleveland Browns announced would start against the Raiders Sunday.
"Just understand the strengths and weaknesses of the team we're going against. They have a system. We'll get ourselves prepared to play against the system and understand the nuances that maybe are a little different with each quarterback. Other than that, you're preparing for both guys; you always do. You're always aware of who the backup is and what they're capable of."
He also spoke about the development of second-year guard Gabe Jackson.
"We were excited about working with Gabe. He showed a lot of promise in his first year, last year, really had a heck of a game this past weekend, and we expect him to continue to grow as a player. He's one of these hard working, kind of quiet kids here that is really a pleasure to coach."
Head Coach Del Rio adjusted the team's schedule this week and spoke about why he decided to make a change.
"We'll always take a look and see what we see is best in terms of preparing the team and getting ourselves ready for that opponent. We're choosing to approach it this way this week and we'll stay that way; otherwise we'll let you know."
Thoughts on new Raiders cornerback David Amerson.
"Athletic. He's got the size, speed and athleticism that we covet. Giving him an opportunity to compete here. He has some starts in the league, so he has experience. He's still a young player. He has a chance to develop so we'll let him come in here and compete and determine a role through competition."
Head Coach Del Rio wants the team to be "road warriors."
"There are going to be a lot of factors working against you; clearly there's an advantage to playing at home, but we want to be road warriors. We want to be the kind of team that can travel well and play in any kind of conditions, any kind of weather, any kind of crowd and just be very purposeful and go in there and be able to impose our will on the imposing team."
He also gave his impression of Browns cornerback Joe Haden.
"He's one of the top corners in the game. He's a really good, sticky, man-coverage guy. They leave him out there on an island a lot. He's a good football player. He's been good since the day he came into the league and he's continued to play at a high level."
