On getting the team back up to speed after four days off: "Getting back out here and working and getting the timing back, both offensively and defensively and even in the kicking game. Just getting back out here and playing football again."
On what the coaches gleaned during off days: "I think obviously there are things that we can do better as a coaching staff to put our players in a little bit better of a position. At the end of the day it comes down to players going out and executing and making the plays that they get the opportunity to make. We are all in this thing together and this will be a constant thing. It is in the National Football League. You never rest and you keep looking for ways to improve. I thought last week was a good week for us to kind of look at ourselves and what we are doing and how we can do it a little bit better."
On learning or reinforcing what was known during that week: "A little bit of both. The season moves fast and sometimes you think you see something and it's not exactly the way you saw it. When you get a little bit of time to sit back and look at it and spend a bit of time looking at it, it opens your eyes to a few different things. We looked at a lot of different areas on what we were doing well, what we need to improve on and we will move forward from there."
On line up looking the same: "I wouldn't expect a bunch of wholesale changes. We've put a lot of time into the guys out there that we have on the field. We are going to continue to evaluate that as we go through and whatever lineup changes we feel like our necessary to maybe give us a boost and help us play a little bit better then we'll make those changes."
On if Raiders worked out any players during off days: "No."
On if they'll bring in any players this week: "There's the potential, yeah."
On the Atlantic Falcons: "They're an extremely good football team. They are very well coached. They are explosive on offense. Their defense plays extremely fast. Their opportunistic, so there is a reason why they're 5 -0. It will be a huge challenge going down there to their place in that dome and in that environment where they have played a lot of good football. It will be a challenge for us."
On if they watched the Atlanta game as a coaching staff: "No, we did not."
On Darrius Heyward-Bey: "Yes, he was back out here again today. He is making a lot of progress and I think he is doing well."
On if Heyward-Bey has been cleared for contact: "Yeah."
On if Shawntae Spencer is still in the boot: "He is, yes."
On Spencer's recovery: "No, it's really about what we expected. We are hoping that he is out of the boot soon and I am hopeful that the process speeds up once he gets out of the boot."
On anticipating Aaron Curry returning to practice next week: "I am, yes."
On Curry's progress: "I think he has made some progress. It is different when you are doing your rehab work as opposed to when you are actually out there playing football. It will be a great deal for us to get him out here, get him working some football, running around and doing some football movement, and really get back into the swing of what we are doing defensively because it has been a while since has gotten an opportunity to participate."
On how much time Curry will need: "We will evaluate it when we get into it. I am not going to set a time frame for him. I know that once he starts practicing we've got basically a three-week window to see where he is at and see if he is ready to play football and if he is we will activate him and if he is not then we will cross that bridge when we come to it."
On chance to exhale over players' days off: "We did our work and we did the things that we had to do and then all of us got an opportunity to go home and be family men because we've got lives too outside of football. We got a chance to do that which was good."
On today's practice: "I thought our guys came back. I thought they worked well. I thought they competed. We still worked a lot on ourselves and we will spend a lot of time really working on Atlanta really starting Wednesday."
On Khalif Barnes: "He is improving. He is still not able to get out here and work so I still think he's week to week."
On Richard Gordon: "Pretty much the same. I would say he is probably a week to week situation. He has made some improvement, but how significant, I don't think it has been significant enough."
On Gordon's injury: "It was a hamstring and you never really know how long those things are going to last and so hopefully he'll be back out here soon."
On getting what was expected from draft class: "Yeah, I mean I think our draft class has done pretty well. The guys that have been out there on the field, they have improved and they have gotten a little bit better. We have got some of those young guys some work so I have been pleased with the progress of the young guys and the rookies."
On Tony Bergstrom and a chance to start: "There's obviously a chance. He's been working both positions, guard and tackle. That's a position, there's a lot that goes into that position. It's hard for young players to come in and make an impact at that position, but he's been making some steady progress and we'll continue to see how the season plays out and if and when there's an opportunity for him to get in there."
On Tyvon Branch and Michael Huff: "I think, right now, it's not fair to totally evaluate Michael Huff and where he's at because we've had to force him into a role that we didn't really anticipate at the beginning of the season. Obviously, there's a lot of improvement that has to be made on all of our parts, but those guys know where they need to improve. I think Tyvon Branch has played pretty well. He runs around all over the field and plays the game physically. So I would expect that he would continue to improve. Both those guys will. I still have high hopes for them to play well this year."
On turnovers: "I believe that, we call them takeaways, that means we control them. It's not like the offense gives us the ball. We go out and take it away from them, so yeah, there are things that we can do. I think JT [Jason Tarver] hit it the other day with you guys a little bit, is we have to have 11 people flying around to the football, flying around like their hair is on fire. That's the way you play defensive football. It's been that way since the beginning of time and it won't change."
On Huff at corner: "He worked there; he's been working both positions, but he obviously worked there some today. We'll see as the week goes on if anything changes."
