On signing WR ![]()
On Parrish as a wide receiver: “He’s got some quickness in the slot, but he’s primary purpose is to come in and see what he can do as a punt returner.”
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On WRs ![]()
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On Ford running: “No, he hasn’t run yet.”
On K ![]()
On if Janikowski will kick Thursday: “I think he’s capable of going. Whether we kick him or not, I don’t know.”
On pros and cons of playing starters the fourth preseason game: “Well, no one wants to see anyone get hurt, you know what I mean? This whole preseason, it’s a delicate balance of getting guys reps and getting them ready to play opening night of the season and working them too much where you’re wearing them down for the season. All of us only have so many shots in our body. So you don’t want to use them all up in the preseason and yet you have to do enough work that you get better. That’s the fine line we walk as coaches and we’ll evaluate that before this game and figure out exactly how much we want to play certain guys.”
On preseason philosophy changing second year as head coach: “I think you take it as the situation arises. I can’t sit here and say, ‘365 days from now, I’m going to feel a certain way.’ All these situations are fluid and they can change so we’ll evaluate that obviously when we get to that time.”
On LB ![]()
On McClain’s role in the defense different than years past: “A little bit, but we’ve got him in some positions where we allow him to make some plays and he’s really excited about that aspect. As we go along and we see how we play during games, the scheme can change. We’ve got a lot of weapons that we can use and we’re going to try to figure out what works well and what our guys can do and put them in those situations.”
On keeping McClain’s legal issues from becoming a distraction: “It hasn’t been a distraction to this point yet. We can’t sit around here and say, ‘what if, what if, what if…” We’ve got plans in place and then if, and when, that situation arises, then we’ll act on it. I’m not going to spend my whole time trying to figure out what are we going to do.”
On treating it as an injury that popped up: “Very similar. Again, it’s next man up philosophy. That’s the only way because we’re going to play the games and it doesn’t matter injuries, suspension, whatever, we’re going to play the games. We’re going to have to find guys that can get out there and play.”
On personnel discussions between Coach Allen and General Manager Reggie McKenzie: “They’re, I guess diplomatic would be a good word. He’s got his opinions. I’ve got my opinions and at the end of the day, we come to a collective agreement on what we think is best for the Raiders. So I think our relationship has been great as far as personnel decisions.”
On their meetings: “It’s a lot of different ways. Sometimes it’s me and the coaches, sometimes it’s Reggie and the personnel staff. Sometimes it’s personnel in with the coaches and sometimes it’s just me and Reggie sitting in trying to make decisions. We take a lot of input. We listen to a lot of people and ultimately, Reggie will make the final call on who those guys are.”
On nature of discussions: “I don’t know if heated is the right word. Both of us have our opinions on what we think, but we haven’t been too far off so far so I don’t know, we’ll see.”
On tight ends: “We’re going to look at anybody that comes available. I don’t care what the position is. If we feel like a guy can make us better, then we’re going to look at it. I wouldn’t single out the tight end position as with any other position. What you do in the National Football League is you try to get better every single day and part of the deal is when people come across the waiver wire, people get released from other teams, you’re looking. We’ll look at anybody.”
On TE ![]()
On Parrish as a punt returner: “I like the fact that there for a couple years he was in the tops of the league being able to return the ball. The fact that he can under it and catch and make a move and get up field and gain some yards for us in the return game. That’s an area we have to get better at.”