Las Vegas Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce's Entire Wednesday Presser Cincinnati Bengals Week
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00:00What were your thoughts on Jackson playing center on Tendon?
00:14Yeah, Jay's going to practice today. We'll see how it goes the rest of the week.
00:18And I really thought for Jackson going from left guard to center, zero reps probably since OTAs.
00:25I can't think he got any reps in training camp. No, he didn't.
00:30So I thought that was a really good job by him. We had no snap issues.
00:33Just to go there and make the mic calls and just communication.
00:36And we know Jackson's a smart individual, obviously.
00:39And I thought the coach did a good job getting him prepared in that situation, which was obviously during the OTA.
00:44Is Dylan going to be able to practice today?
00:46Yeah, he'll be limited today.
00:49Coach, Tybee Wilson got his first sack of the season Sunday against the Chiefs.
00:53Do you feel like that's something that could help get him going?
00:56Well, we hope so. I mean, that was big.
00:58First of all, the getoff, like that's something we had talked about last year.
01:02Tendon's get off the rock on a snap, using his hands, using his length.
01:06And then just the explosion that we saw just to finish, which was really huge for us.
01:09Just need that production from him as well.
01:12Because, you know, we talked about it when we lost Malcolm.
01:14Somebody else opposite Max got to step up last year.
01:16Didn't see that it was Malcolm.
01:18This year, you know, still rotating guys, moving around.
01:20But whenever Tybee can be productive, either inside or outside, that's a plus for us.
01:24You know, and Jack was saying, you know, the previous week,
01:28he feels like teams aren't testing him as much as they were, you know, late last season.
01:32And are you seeing the same thing on the field that he's not getting as many opportunities?
01:37No, he's getting opportunities. He's getting opportunities.
01:40I don't know if corners won't be thrown at 10 times.
01:43That's not a good sign either.
01:44You know, then they figure you're the fish, right?
01:46So I think Jack just needs to keep doing his job, you know,
01:49playing with good leverage.
01:50He did a much better job tackling effort over the last couple weeks.
01:52He just continues winning the plays that he's there to make.
01:54Go ahead and make them.
01:55AP, the Bengals are top 10 in the league,
01:57and Blitz has called this season in quarterback knockdown percentage.
02:00How does it change your game plan when you're playing against a team that blitzes a lot?
02:03Yeah, you got to protect the quarterback.
02:04It's no different from what we saw at the end of the game last week versus Kansas City.
02:07Teams don't tee off.
02:08Once they figure out, you know, there's a weakness
02:10or you haven't picked up something in protection,
02:12they don't just keep going at it.
02:13Obviously, these guys got two good defensive ends.
02:1691 is a really good football player.
02:18High effort, high motor, competitive, solid.
02:21You know, when they bring their backers and their stars,
02:23they're really good at, you know, pressures.
02:26After looking back, do you see Zemir getting another shot
02:28or has Madison kind of earned a lion's share of courage before right now?
02:32I think Madison's still the starter, but we got to get Zemir going.
02:35I mean, Zemir, you know, I hate to keep referring,
02:39but last year we saw a lot of positive stuff from Zemir.
02:41And seeing a little bit of it earlier this season,
02:43I think he's got to get out of the funk as well, you know.
02:45I know those fumbles early on really got to him,
02:47then he had an injury.
02:48But it's always good when we got him going downhill.
02:50I mean, he's a big gentleman who's physical.
02:53And obviously, I don't think, you know, everyone can see one running back in.
02:55If you look at the whole league, everybody's using two backs.
02:57Do you think it's a confidence thing with him?
02:59Or do you think it's an additional?
03:00We just got to get him going.
03:01You know, two, three carries in and out the lineup.
03:03You know, you got to get in the flow.
03:04Everybody needs to get in the flow of the game.
03:06And then sometimes the flow doesn't allow that.
03:08But, you know, we got to find ways to get him in the game and keep him in.
03:10And you know how this works.
03:13When part of the game is struggling, people point fingers at the play caller.
03:17Where are you on that with Luke Getzey and the play calling?
03:22Yeah, I think it has to get better.
03:24You know, there's been a lot of opportunities for us to score points
03:27and make opportunities.
03:28And, yeah, that's on the play call.
03:30But then also, like I told our staff and I told our players, it's all of us.
03:33It's not – it's easy to see everybody's pointing a finger at Luke or myself.
03:36But, you know, the whole line play, quarterbacks, the running backs,
03:39you know, turnovers, missed blocks, missed execution on plays,
03:43alignments of details, all those things have to get cleaned up.
03:46So, yeah, it does start with the coordinator.
03:48He's got to be the one that takes the fall for that
03:50and takes – gets most of the blame.
03:51But it is collective.
03:53Is that – are you comfortable moving forward with him
03:55just remaining as the play caller?
03:57Yeah.
04:00Antonio, Desmond Ritter got on the field for one snap,
04:02but you don't see it because he got wiped out by the penalty.
04:05How is he kind of taking to the playbook?
04:08And where is he right now?
04:09Yeah, much better this week than last week.
04:11I mean, we got him in here and we're here until 10, 11 o'clock at night
04:14trying to get him up to speed.
04:15Had a package for him.
04:16But if you really look at the game, I think we had a 12-play series,
04:19a 10-play series to start the game off.
04:21And then the next time we got the ball was in a two-minute situation.
04:24So, just trying to get him in the flow of the game.
04:26Don't want to interrupt what we're doing as well from moving the ball.
04:28But I think, you know, as we go on throughout this week and out the season,
04:32we just got to find ways to get him in the game.
04:33He has an element, obviously, with his athleticism and playing experience
04:37to help us out.
04:38And how did Brock come out of the game?
04:40Did he just head for the next rate?
04:42Yeah, he's good.
04:43I mean, Brock's tough.
04:44If we tried to pull him off for like six plays in a row,
04:46he wouldn't come off the field.
04:47So, not worried about Brock this week at all.
04:49AP, speaking of coming off the field, Robert Spillane has played almost 99%
04:52of the defensive snaps this season.
04:54Any thoughts in terms of his workload at all?
04:56Yeah.
04:57Nope.
04:58He's a linebacker.
04:59He's got a lot of stuff going on, right?
05:00It's contract year for him.
05:01He's a warrior.
05:02He loves ball.
05:03He loves being a leader.
05:04He's a captain.
05:05I went to him right after he got out of the sit-and-acts.
05:07I thought, you know, like what we all thought, he was done.
05:09And he said, no, I'm fine.
05:10I'll go out there.
05:11I mean, it's just I think one of those things that scared him.
05:13But between him and Max, you can't pull those two guys off the field.
05:15You want more players like that.
05:17When you look at the Bengals receiving core, you have Jamar Chase, T. Higgins.
05:20Those are some really good receivers.
05:21Can you just talk about the challenge they'll bring to a guy like Jacorin?
05:24And what have you seen from him so far just throughout this season
05:27that really makes you comfortable with that challenge?
05:29Yeah.
05:30Probably the best combo of receivers.
05:31Still players that we went against all year, along with the quarterback.
05:34But Jamar Chase, man, is elite.
05:36I mean, he's one of one right now.
05:37You watch him after the catch.
05:39Physicality, speed, acceleration, catch radius.
05:42I mean, I can go on and on.
05:43You know, obviously one of the top receivers in the league.
05:45And T. Higgins is just a match-up nightmare.
05:47I'll be honest.
05:486'4", 220.
05:49Plays with a little mean streak in him.
05:51He has the speed and agility.
05:52So we've got to do a good job first and foremost.
05:54When they catch the ball, because they're going to catch balls,
05:56we've got to tackle and get them on the ground.
05:58And then we have opportunities,
05:59because there is opportunities to make plays on the ball.
06:01We have to make those plays.
06:02But I think we don't need to chase plays.
06:04I think both Jack and J.B. and Nate have done a good job.
06:07You know, when the opportunity is there, punch it out or get the guy on the ground.
06:10And if we continue to do that, we'll be fine.
06:12Are they an example of a team that the record doesn't necessarily line up with?
06:16No, no.
06:17Now when you look at the still players and the quarterback and then defensively,
06:20yeah, it might be a bad year for them from that standpoint.
06:22But you watch their sound, they're in the right places.
06:25The question was asked earlier about the pressures.
06:27They give you a lot of things to think about.
06:29No, we're not worried about that.
06:30I mean, yeah, we've got to look at it like they look at us as 2 and 6,
06:32but our records both can be flipped.
06:34The game could have went a lot of ways in both of our games,
06:36but our record is what it is.
06:38Somebody has to win this game, right?
06:40And we need to win more importantly, and that's all we're worried about.
06:43How important has Trayvon Merritt been,
06:45especially now while in the box, you know, the success of your defense?
06:48Yeah, I think it's good that you noticed that,
06:50because a lot last year, even this year, early on, he was up in the post.
06:54There's not a lot of action.
06:56You get the dude near the box, you're dealing with him like a linebacker.
06:59The way he's coming down, physicality, instinctive,
07:02playing behind the line, scrimmage.
07:03You've seen some TFLs there.
07:05And more importantly, he's just finding his way around the ball.
07:07I think last week was a prime example of that.
07:09Obviously, I know he got into the end zone, so did we.
07:12But he's just been making plays.
07:14Ever since Epps went down, he's been more and more vocal,
07:17understands that he needs to control the back end for us like Epps had did,
07:20and he didn't have to worry about it.
07:21But now he does with Isaiah Palomel next to him.
07:24To follow up on Tyree, I know the sack was the kind of splash play,
07:28but he's had a lot of good snaps the last couple weeks.
07:30What do you kind of attribute that progress for, and how do you keep it going?
07:34Just year two, more and more reps.
07:35I've always said it from day one.
07:36He just needs to play a lot more football.
07:38The more we can get him out there on the field,
07:39the more he can stay out on the field, the better he'll be and the better we will be.
07:43You mentioned the quarterback.
07:44What makes Drew Burrell so dangerous?
07:46He doesn't flinch.
07:48He doesn't flinch.
07:49I mean, he sees it.
07:50You see a single high, that ball's going to the outside, right?
07:52He sees two high safety, he makes the correct throws,
07:55throws a check down, or hit the ball in the middle of the field.
07:57But more importantly, just I think what shocked me was the athleticism
08:00I saw the other day from the Giants game.
08:02You know, 50-yard touchdown, I've run a linebacker, Isaiah Simmons, who runs 4-3.
08:06Competitive, tough, smart.
08:09You can see him battling all the injuries, man.
08:11Everything's rallied around this player, and he's a special player.
08:14So we've got to disrupt him, get him uncomfortable,
08:16and obviously not allow him to have easy targets.
08:20Can you manage anything differently in terms of injuries or rest,
08:23anything like that with a bye week on the horizon,
08:25just in terms of maybe sit a guy out, give him two weeks off,
08:28that kind of thing if they're close to being injured?
08:30No, we need everybody we can right now to win games.
08:33So there's no resting.
08:35Keep losing, you'll rest for a lot longer.
08:39Michael Mayer's designation, I think after Sunday he's ready to come back.
08:45Do you anticipate that he's going to be back?
08:46I think we're getting close.
08:47I do think we're getting close.
08:49You guys good?
08:50Coach, just a really random question here.
08:52You being a former player and also now a coach,
08:55how important is NFL international in the games?
08:58How does that affect the league, or how does that help with the fan base?
09:02Yeah, I played in two games as a player, one in Osaka in 2002
09:06with the Washington Redskins at the time, now Commanders,
09:08and then 2007 with the Giants in London versus the Dolphins.
09:11I thought it was really cool because the fan base is totally different.
09:15They're cheering at all times.
09:17I don't think there's ever a home team.
09:19But just as the NFL has continued to grow,
09:22and obviously we see the love for it on television,
09:25we see every aspect of streaming.
09:28But international, you can start winning that.
09:30I think that's best for all of us, owners, coaches, and players
09:33because there's going to be more money being made.
09:35And even more importantly, the visibility of our players, right?
09:38Because you can get a lot more international players
09:40playing in a game of football in the National Football League.
09:42So credit to that.
09:44And I think each and every year, just from being at the league meetings,
09:47you just probably see that growing.
09:49I hope one day we get to be one of those teams.
09:51All right, thank you guys.