Prior to the Oakland Raiders road victory against the Tennessee Titans, the team's defense was subpar and was in need of some improvement. Both players and coaches expressed their displeasure with the defense's inability to get on the same page and play as a unit. It was clear that the team wanted to get this problem fixed on Sunday, and they did just that by coming away with a pair interceptions and a forced fumble. The takeaways helped provide the Raiders with another win, but the work isn't over.
Now three weeks into the NFL season the team is 2-1, but the players still expect more out of themselves and the team as a whole. A day removed from the victory, Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio stated on Monday that the team will focus on making corrections from Sunday, and move forward.
Here are the best quotes from Tell the Truth Tuesday.
**Head Coach Jack Del Rio
**
"So, a couple of things; I'll hit on a couple of things. It started well. We started fast. Offensively, went down in the opening drive. We did a good job controlling the ball at the end of the first half and getting that touchdown."
"Our corners played really well. They've been taking a lot of heat and obviously, they played much better yesterday. Both of the corners did. I thought overall our secondary was a whole lot sharper. Forced three turnovers on defense – that was good stuff."
"What we have is a really, really I think a focused group of young men that really want to be good, that are willing to be accountable when things don't go well and take ownership and willing to bust their butt and sacrifice for each other to help things go well. So, I think it's a good mix right now."
"I think there were five [passes] that went down probably as drops and I would say two of them were contested catches, right to the ground. Three were legitimate drops. One is too many. Our guys take pride in catching the ball and doing things with it. A couple of them came on third down so they were critical. Obviously those are concentration issues that we've got to tighten up."
Cornerback David Amerson
"I just think everybody is coming and being locked in on the little details you really have to clean up. Based off the first two weeks, teams were coming out and attacking us in a certain way. We had to really come in and make the adjustment, [the] offense putting the numbers and we [the defense] weren't really holding up our end of the bargain. I think everybody took that personal and we came in the week and had a great week of practice. I think it showed on the field."
"We're definitely capable of it [being the best], we've definitely got the guys do it in the [film] room or on the field. My biggest thing is that you want it to be like that every week, you don't want to just be Week 3 and don't hear it again. You want week-in and week-out they're talking about the Raiders' secondary or the Raiders' defense."
"I think at the end of the game we can't, even though it was exciting, we can't allow it to get that exciting. I think we can definitely do a better job of getting off the field earlier, especially at the end of the fourth quarter in a two-minute situation. We don't want it to be that close, I think we can clean that up."
Guard Vadal Alexander
"I'm happy with my performance, but there's always things you can work on. I think was consistent, and when I went in there, I did my job well, but I want to go out there and be even better. There's things I can improve on, in the run and the pass game, but I thought I did well overall, but I'm looking forward to being better in the future."
