Linebacker Bruce Irvin
The 27-14 loss to the Houston Texans Saturday afternoon officially closed the book on the Oakland Raiders 2016 season. Rookie quarterback Connor Cook led the Silver and Black in his first career start, but unfortunately, he and the team came up just a bit short.
To Cook's credit, the last time he started a game was during the College Football Playoffs against the Alabama Crimson Tide, while he was the signal-caller at Michigan State. Not to mention, the Houston Texans had the number one ranked defense statistically in the league. Following the Texans victory, here's what the opponents had to say about the matchup.
Head Coach Bill O'Brien
O'Brien praised rookie quarterback Connor Cook for his performance in his first career start, and sees him being successful in the NFL.
"I think that the guy's got a future in this league. I mean he completed some passes. He had some nice plays in there himself. I think our defense makes it difficult on a lot of people. We have a good scheme and more importantly than that we have a bunch of good players and guys that play good team defense."
Cornerback A.J. Bouye
The fourth-year player out of the University of Central Florida was prepared to face Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper.
"When I hear Coach (Bill O'Brien) talk about it – and this is no shot at anybody – but this game is about respect, and I was watching the NFL Network early this morning, and I tried to stay away from it but one of the guys was saying in order for (Connor) Cook to win, they're going to have to find a way to get (Amari) Cooper on the Texans' corners, because he's better than all of the Texans' corners. I text Kevin (Johnson) right then. I took that personally, and I was telling everybody in here and they took it personally because it's time that they respect us as a team, period."
Defensive End Jadeveon Clowney
Clowney broke down his first career interception, and how he was able to read the offense.
"Film study. When 30 (Jalen Richard) came into the game, we knew they like to get the ball to him. He's a screen guy, he ran away from me. If he didn't cut me, I knew he was going to throw the ball so he didn't go for the cut like I thought off the rush. I made a play on the ball."
The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft shared how the defense was able to limit Cook.
"It was good. DBs locked down. Up front, we wanted to disguise really well and mess them up. He couldn't get a good read. He was holding it some. It worked good for us. We held them to like – how many yards? We got the win and that is all that matters."
**He talked about squaring off against Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack, and the similarities in their game.
**
"Anytime you go up against somebody in your class, you try and outperform them. He is a good player. He does just about the same things. We have to go out there every play and compete no matter who is out there. I don't care who we're playing, I compete at a high level. That's just my game. That's just how I play the game."
Quarterback Brock Osweiler
Osweiler said communication was key in order for the Texans to rise to the occasion and pull off the victory.
"I think we had a good feel as far as personnel and what they were trying to do scheme-wise. But in a playoff game and anytime you see a team two, three times in the regular season, you're going to see un-scouted looks. We certainly saw that today, it's all about how you react to those, how you communicate on the sideline to make adjustments. But certainly when you know the personnel of the team, it's usually to your benefit moving forward."
