Head Coach Hue Jackson
Q: Anybody not on the list [injury list]?
Coach Jackson: No [laughs]. No, we've got quite a few guys on the list. We'll be all right. I mean again, that's just part of it. It's been like that probably every week, but this team just continues to go out and keep finding a way to win, and like I told you, we're not going to make excuses. We're just going to keep playing and play as hard and as well as we can play.
Q: Of nine guys that weren't out on the field; I was just looking at the list. [Richard] Seymour – is he the most apt to play or possibly [Denarius] Moore? Can you rank them from one to nine?
Coach Jackson: I cannot do that for you. I just know, hopefully, like I've been saying, we'll get some of these guys back in the fold and get them back out there playing football, and that's the most important thing that this team needs to do. We need to focus on playing football, getting healthier, getting ourselves ready to go to Miami and play a big time football game.
Q: Do you feel comfortable that you are getting healthier? The same guys are all out…
Coach Jackson: Well, let me say this – they are, at this point, but for somehow, some way come Sunday, some of those guys I know will be back out there playing and that's all I can bank on. I think the guys are working hard. I know our training staff is working hard and I think we can just continue to get some guys healthy. There are some guys that haven't had a chance to be out there at all that I think are getting closer, but until those guys are ready to play, I don't think you can put those guys back out there. I just don't think you can.
Q: How big of a challenge is it just from the standpoint of going cross-country and playing in Miami where you're going to have some humidity and stuff? Just stuff that's not associated with December; I mean if you look at it, Miami's done pretty well at home probably because of that…
Coach Jackson: Probably so. I think it's tough, but again if you're going to be the type of team that you want to be, you've got to play in – the elements can't be the issue. I think we have a weatherproof team, whether it's hot, cold, rain, mud, doesn't matter. I mean you've got to go play and that's what I talk about with the team. I think our offense is built that way, our defense is built that way, and our special teams, so we're not going to worry about the elements, or how far we have to fly or anything like that. We need to go play a football game that's a game we need to win and we've got to get ready to go play.
Q: Jacoby Ford was out jogging around yesterday. You said you'd see how he felt. He didn't participate today. He was hopeful at practice today he said earlier in the week. Where is he at?
Coach Jackson: I think he's getting closer. Again, he's another one of those guys that's getting closer, but again, just don't want to put any guy out there until you know for sure that they can go at the level that you need to go. I mean this is pro football at its finest, so a guy's got to be 100 percent or close to it to give themselves a chance to go out and compete at this level.
Q: As much as the NFL is becoming more and more of a passing league each year, you're built to pound the football; run the football. You still a little old school that running the football leads to winning championships?
Coach Jackson: I truly believe that. I've said before, I think you throw to score and you run to win. I think at some point in time, you've got to be able to line up and block the other team and run the ball and stop the team from running. I think that's the way you win in this league and you do have to have the capability to score points any place, any time, anywhere and I think our team is built that way. I think we can run it, I think we can throw it, I think we can have explosive plays. I think we can do anything that needs to be done to win a game. But, what we have to do is do it consistently and I think once you get to that point, you become a very good offensive football team.
Q: Are you happy with the physicality of the Raiders football team both on offense and defense?
Coach Jackson: We're getting there. I think we're growing. I think we started off pretty good, then we had a lull here and there. Then, I think lately, I think we're starting to observe that physicality the way I know we can. But again, like anything else, there's five more games so I think we're still a work in progress and we need to continue to get there.
Q: You had a game against these guys last year and I know they had [Chad] Henne, they didn't have [Brandon] Marshall. You had [Nnamdi] Asomugha who was here who was not out there – there were a lot of things, but can you go back and watch that? Does it help you at all?
Coach Jackson: Yeah, it helped me. It helped me and it disappointed me because I didn't think we played very well. I didn't think we played very well as a team and when you look at it, they ran the ball, they stopped us from running, they were more physical than we were, and they won the game. So at the end, the things that I think are important to winning games they did against this football team last year so that's a reminder. That's the best reminder you can get because they have the same players. And we basically have the same players other than a couple here or there so they lined up and they took it to us last year. So, we'll see where we are this year.
Q: Which team do you game plan for? The overall 3-8 Dolphins or the 3-1 over the last four and bouncing back?
Coach Jackson: The team that's really good. The team that's 3-1, balanced attack, that's a really good football team. I mean what they did earlier in the year has nothing to do with what they're doing now. They're playing good football, so we've got to go down there and play our best football game.
