Las Vegas Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce's entire post-game press conference after demoralizing the Los Angeles Chargers 63-21
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00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:07 >> APU, I'm sorry, right here.
00:09 You made the decision this week to put Bo up in the box.
00:12 Obviously, that had an impact.
00:14 I'm just curious about what went into you making that decision.
00:18 And second part of that question is I talked to you this week about attacking
00:21 down the field and you said that's what we have to do.
00:24 Can you talk about how you addressed it with the team and how they responded, sir?
00:29 >> Yeah, first with Bo, just something I thought about over some time.
00:33 It's been kind of building up and then obviously, after last week's performance,
00:38 we needed to make a change and I think it worked out well for us.
00:42 To your second question, really, like I've been saying, every week that's the plan.
00:47 It's just, you know, the quarterback gotta let it go and
00:49 then tonight he did, second play of the game, boom, we took a shot.
00:52 Yeah, it wasn't completed, but that kind of set the tone and
00:55 you can see what we're gonna do the rest of the game.
00:57 And obviously, there's more opportunities later in the game.
00:59 But listen, we got a lot of skilled players that we know and
01:02 it just takes confidence, man.
01:03 I wish we could do it day one.
01:05 I wish we could just draw it up and it's that easy.
01:07 But obviously, it took us six games to do it and
01:09 hopefully that's part of what's going forward the rest of the year.
01:11 >> Coach, in a very kind of topsy turvy season, and
01:17 I'm just wondering a game like this, which is so
01:19 unusual in terms of all the different ways you scored.
01:22 I'm just wondering, was there a sense of catharsis in terms of getting a lot of
01:25 frustrations out by the players, a lot of different,
01:28 you had almost everyone on the scoreboard tonight.
01:31 >> Yeah, we talked about just having short term memory.
01:34 I'm gonna reference what Devontae said last week.
01:37 We was on the wrong side of history.
01:39 Well, we're on the right side now and that's the way we wanna be.
01:42 But it's like anything, turnovers, points, they always come in bunches.
01:46 And for us, once it became a frenzy, right?
01:49 And you saw it on defense, you saw it on offense, special teams jumped in it.
01:53 Just look at the sideline.
01:54 I think if you wanna watch the game, if you didn't see it, you could just hear it.
01:57 There's a lot of energy down there by those guys.
01:59 Had some of our team responded four days after what just happened here previously.
02:05 >> Don't try to in front of the LT, what was TD scores, TD points.
02:08 First question, what was it like going to your mind knowing that you guys had scored
02:12 franchise history, 63 points?
02:15 >> Well, we knew at halftime what the record was.
02:18 I was made aware of it.
02:19 And we wouldn't be aggressive regardless what the score was.
02:22 We only had 21 or 10.
02:24 We wouldn't be aggressive, that was our mindset.
02:26 Talked to our team about it last week, playing better in the second half.
02:29 I thought we did.
02:30 This one was playing full second half and not living off on the gas pedal.
02:34 And hats off to you, because that was their mindset.
02:36 >> And my second question, from a coaching perspective,
02:40 knowing that you guys lost last week.
02:42 But for a coach to win this way, what does it do for
02:45 the confidence of you now, so your coaching staff?
02:48 >> Well, big.
02:49 I mean, obviously, it doesn't matter who you play.
02:51 It's hard to score 60 plus points in the National Football League.
02:55 But I think just seeing guys understand, if we execute, we do things the right way,
02:59 you hear it all the time, right?
03:00 It's kind of cliche, believe in the process.
03:02 And I think the guys have done that, they bounced back.
03:06 And I got told on Tuesday, cuz I'll be honest, we were all down.
03:10 I was down, I was into it.
03:11 And the best thing that they did, they came to work and their mindset,
03:16 their mentality, their energy, their balance of the building,
03:19 the way they were talking, I had to slap myself.
03:22 They get out the phone, and they got me out the phone.
03:23 And I told them that on Tuesday, I told them that again today.
03:26 That's all to our players, because that's what leaders and real men do.
03:29 They bring others along with them, and they brought me along, and
03:31 hell, we kicked some ass today.
03:32 >> Thank you.
03:35 >> Hey, coach, right here in the back.
03:37 Jack Jones, you guys, you know, go back a long way.
03:41 So the growth of him from you guys' original relationship up to this point
03:45 today, you may obviously made one of the crazy catch today.
03:48 What makes six, can you just talk about the growth that you've seen?
03:50 >> I've seen that two or three times, to be honest, which is crazy.
03:53 I've seen him do it in high school, I've seen him do it in college.
03:57 I didn't see him do it in here.
03:58 And we had just got into it, cuz he was getting into it with the refs and
04:02 other teams.
04:02 And I told Devontae, go tell him to shut up.
04:04 And I was gonna pull him, and then the next play, he makes the play.
04:07 And I had to really pull him, cuz I knew he was a really active fool.
04:10 But man, this is a talented individual.
04:12 When we brought him in, I told Mr. Davis and Champ,
04:15 this is the guy that just needs some loving, maturity.
04:17 He needs a good locker room around him, which we have.
04:20 And he'll really blossom here, and I'm glad that he's ready.
04:23 >> AP, could you please talk about, I mean, two backup offensive linemen come in,
04:30 and Khalil Mack didn't have any type of a game that he had before with all your
04:34 starters, just the pride you have in the guys, next man stepping up.
04:37 >> Yeah, I'm gonna start with Jermaine.
04:38 He got a lot of slack, and people got after him at that first game, right?
04:43 Six sacks, bench him, do this and that.
04:46 And listen, it was his birthday yesterday, I said,
04:49 best way to celebrate your birthday, blow out them cakes right there on five-two.
04:51 And he did a hell of a job on that, man.
04:53 And I think all those guys amongst our offensive line, and to our offensive line,
04:57 Coach Karm and Cam, they've done an excellent job of just getting the next man ready.
05:01 We've been rotating guys throughout practice.
05:03 It came to fruition last week.
05:04 Short week this week, Dylan went in there, a hell of a job at center.
05:07 Took Greg out of guard, put another guy in there.
05:11 I mean, you couldn't tell.
05:12 I mean, be honest, man, that's coaching, man.
05:16 That's guys buying into what the coaches are saying.
05:18 All the stuff that we've been doing, it came to fruition tonight.
05:20 Yes, sir.
05:21 >> Right down here in front, go ahead.
05:25 >> Good evening, Coach.
05:26 >> Yes, sir.
05:27 >> Speaking of everything clicking, back in the day,
05:30 you put up 100 points against Compton High School.
05:33 Does that remind you tonight?
05:35 Did you reflect back on that?
05:37 >> It was 99.
05:38 >> Okay.
05:38 >> [LAUGH] >> Yeah, it was close.
05:42 We were trying to reset the clock that year.
05:43 But no, listen, at the end of the day, it was all sportsmanship.
05:48 But that day, listen, we just scored zero.
05:50 I ain't gonna stop them boys from scoring.
05:52 I'm not gonna stop them.
05:53 We was on the other side of it last week, and it felt a certain way.
05:57 And no apologies here, I'm sorry.
05:59 >> AP, a couple of weeks ago, you talked about the opportunity to kind of sat
06:04 in front of this franchise with three straight home games.
06:07 Got one up, two down.
06:09 Now you guys are shifting your attention to the final three games of the year.
06:12 Two of those three are on the road.
06:14 How do you guys try to bottle something like tonight and
06:15 take it on the road with you?
06:16 >> I'll be honest, we're gonna treat this game like we did every game this year that
06:20 I've been a part of, at least with me at the helm.
06:21 Short term memories.
06:23 We got a, I gave a victory Friday off tomorrow.
06:27 We got a Christmas party.
06:28 We'll enjoy it.
06:29 Give them a couple days off.
06:31 We'll come back, get ready for these world champs.
06:33 We played them here tough.
06:34 Maybe let an opportunity slip by and we'll move on to the next one.
06:38 That's just what we've been doing.
06:39 The biggest window in front of us is the front.
06:41 Not worry about what's behind us.
06:43 >> Do one more, Ed.
06:45 >> Yeah, Aiden after the last game said he believed he was the guy.
06:48 He had confidence in himself no matter what happened.
06:51 You went with him tonight.
06:52 He gave it back to you in terms of how he played.
06:54 Can you just talk about what you saw from him?
06:55 >> Yeah, I never lost confidence.
06:56 There was a lot of questions asked throughout the week and
06:58 I made it very clear, I believe it was yesterday, that I'd never wavered anything.
07:03 But you asked me a question and I said, yeah,
07:04 I'll keep evaluating it as you ask me.
07:06 I'll look into it.
07:07 But I made that decision with Aiden when I first took over and
07:12 I don't think you ever go back on your gut.
07:15 And Aiden's a rookie.
07:16 When I was a rookie and I played, I made mistakes.
07:18 I had ugly games.
07:20 And it's hard to play the position he plays.
07:21 He's gonna have rough days.
07:22 And he had a rough day in office last week.
07:24 But you know what he did on Monday?
07:26 His ass was the first one in the building.
07:27 You know what he did yesterday?
07:28 He's the last one in the building.
07:30 He didn't leave.
07:31 You know what I mean? He stayed there all day until he got it right.
07:33 Same thing today.
07:34 He didn't leave the building all day today after our morning meeting.
07:36 So here's a guy, this man, he has a great opportunity, no different than me.
07:40 And he's taking advantage of it.
07:42 And tonight, he's on the winning side.
07:44 >> Thank you, Coach.