On San Diego: "It's a good unit. Defensively they've looked really good on film in the preseason. They played well against us last year in the finale. Their offense can score a ton of points. There are a lot of things to worry about. They've got a new coordinator. Week one you never know exactly what you're going to see. You've got to be ready for everything. We're not real, real comfortable going into this. We've had a great start to the week, we're working extremely hard, and we're going to go in and we know we have to play our best football offensively to come out with the win."
On finally playing a regular season game: "I can't wait. It's great to play on Monday Night Football, but it's hard to sit at home, since I've done the Monday Night Opener before, it's hard to sit at home on Sunday when you want to just get on the field and get it out of the way and get to week two. It's going to be a long day Sunday watching the games, and then Monday, of course, with the 7:00 kickoff it's a lot of waiting around, but we'll be read y to go."
On having Denarius Moore back: "It's huge. Just to see him in a helmet and shoulder pads…It's been so long, and I know he's worked hard at it. I know it's been a frustrating training camp for him because he's a football player and that's what he wants to be doing. It's good to see him out there getting reps and getting his legs back underneath him. He's going to need that. You lose football shape really fast, and it's hard to get it back. So it's good to see him getting some work today, and hopefully he'll continue to improve as the week goes on."
On playing in the regular season with Darren McFadden: "I wanted the opportunity to play with him last year. It's been such a tease in the preseason because he's really only gotten a series here and there. I have no idea. I'm like a kid in a candy store, I can't wait. Just the little that we've seen of him in the preseason, he brings so much to the field, and I'm more excited about that than anything."
On if he got enough work in the preseason: "Yeah, ready to roll."
On Brandon Myers: "Brandon's going to be in there the majority of the time, but it's kind of a three-headed monster with Big Rich [Richard Gordon] and then David [Ausberry] too. Brandon's been super consistent catching the football. He does a really good job catching the ball. He can kind of do it all. He can block. He can get down the field and cut people on the back side. He catches the ball downfield really well too. He had a couple of good catches last year that I can think of. We expect a lot because in this offense, with the tight end, there's a lot on that position's shoulders in this offense. From what we've seen of Brandon we know he can handle it."
On Derek Hagan: "You know, he was only here, like you said, for a short time. I remember him being really consistent. I think a six, seven, eight year vet that understands the offense surprisingly well already. He hasn't even been here for 24 hours, but I've been really surprised to see how well he's picked things up in his first practice because there's a ton of different formations and shifts and motions. He's done a really good job day one, just really consistent."
On what Palmer has to prove: "I'm just worried about getting win number one. Monday night's the only thing that's on my mind right now and then we'll think about Miami on Tuesday."
On working Stefen Wisniewski returning, but still working with Alex Parsons: "Wiz has played a lot on the front and the interior line. He played some center last year when we had some injuries. Alex has done a really good job stepping in. Whoever it is, whoever's number is called, I know they'll come in and do a really good job, and I'm ready to work with both of them whoever it is."
On staying mentally focused despite interceptions: "Just go out and get completions. I'm not worried about anything other than getting completions and finding a way to win. You can't worry about anything else, or have any negative thoughts in your head. You just need to go out and read the defense, find who you need to throw the ball to, and throw it to them."
On taking game up a notch: "Absolutely, but not because of an opposing offense. We're not playing against them on offense. We're playing against Shaun Phillips and [Eric] Weddle and all those guys up front. You can't worry about what they're doing on offense. You can't force things because of how things go early. You've got to take your completions when you can, and try to find ways to get touchdowns in the red zone and not field goals. You can't get into a personal battle with an individual player on the offense."
On what surprised him about Darren McFadden: "I didn't expect his leadership. He hadn't played a bunch of full seasons, so you don't hear a lot, you see a lot of highlights here and there. I've been very pleasantly surprised by the leadership he brings to the team. He leads by example, and he's also a vocal leader when he needs to be. He's in the right place, doing the right thing, at the right time. He works extremely hard. So probably just his leadership."
On having to change pregame routine because of Monday Night Football: "You have to because on the on the 1:00 games you're getting up at 7:00 to get a team meal. With the Monday Night games we'll have a meeting and a walk-through, so everything is thrown off a little bit. But as far as doing anything out of the ordinary, no. You have to go through your regular meetings, your team meal, get your chance to study with the little time that you have, and get yourself ready to play."
On the Saturday night practice: "It will be good. Just to get under the lights and have receivers have to worry about the lights when they're catching balls. The more times you get out on that field and work on the dirt, the transition from the dirt to the grass, I think it's good for us and it's an advantage for us because we have played and practiced on it a handful of times."
On if the game is more meaningful because it's a Southern California team: "No, now that I'm a part of the Raiders, it's a huge rivalry, so that's a part of it. It's a division game, a rivalry game. Those are always more important. I understand the importance of, especially early in the season, getting a division win is huge. There has been a long standing tradition. This rivalry between these two teams is a big deal to the fan bases. It's a fight between Northern and Southern California."
On last year's Week 17 loss to the Chargers: "We are well aware of who knocked us out. We've talked about that. We understand, we haven't forgotten what happened last year."
On seeing Head Coach Norv Turner: "I live here now, so getting to go to Southern California is a vacation, a weekend here or there. I haven't seen him because he's always in the office, the guy is always working. He's never around either."
