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Coach Tarver Media Session

On Michael Huff: "He got more comfortable as the game went on. There are some things with body position as a corner where you want to end up when the play starts and things like that and he got more and more comfortable as it went on. That was good. I think he grew in confidence as the game went on, which is a big key."

On the importance for Huff to make a play: "Biggest thing for Mike is he's taken some snaps at corner, he's been all over the place for us this year, but for any player, you want to make a play early anytime here in the game. That's your ultimate. But when you don't, you have to focus and do your job every play. A corner's world is isolated a lot. You're isolated. Sometimes you don't get any action for 10 or 12 plays. So when you're out there, you just have to keep…the best ones just keep focusing, focusing, focusing, when I get my shot, I'm going to make a play. So sometimes, that is one of the things about being a corner, you have 15 plays and that ball doesn't come near you, and all of a sudden, once it is near you, it's either a critical tackle or a critical play. You like to get one of those, a good one, early."

On making the switch from safety to corner: "We used him all over. He was in down near the box in some of our defensive packages so Mike is used to it."

On how much the no-huddle limits what Raiders do defensively: "Against certain personnel groups, it really doesn't. It's just a matter of our process just like it's a matter of their process. It's how quickly you can get things communicated and then execute it. But all our calls can be run in that process. Now, what we were watching and how we were building it here is, we got to see it with Detroit in the preseason and some other things, we need to execute some of those things better and make sure there's no communication errors. But it doesn't limit us."

On what happens if there are issues with communication: "We'll stay in our process is the answer. We'll stay in our process. Our process is designed for no-huddle offenses and we need to be in our process. So it's not a matter of changing it; it's a matter of, hey guys, use the process. So that's what it is."

On if breaking down Peyton Manning: "Well we'll search every means to figure out what he's doing, but he's smart enough to know and change things as he has his whole career. He'll come up with different words and run the same plays out of the same looks and that's what makes him special. But we do research those things."

On audio: "Well on the coaching film, no. But you have the TV copies and obviously the guys with the sound thing. Those are our buddies so we can see what they hear. Those guys, we like them, sometimes the players run into them…So you hear some things, so you spend time…what he's good at is changing those things, so when you're looking, you're looking for patterns for the players to hold on to. But the biggest thing is this – you may know sometimes when he's doing things, but if you don't execute your call, he'll find it. He'll find it every time, that's what makes him great."

On Manning's audibles: "He would be better to ask on that, but there's definitely some part of it to where he's trying to see what you're in and then he can adjust. So he'll say different things at different times. Where he's been good in the past is he's changed it. He changes it so you don't know when it's a dummy and when it's not. The biggest thing is the defense is this – even if he gets the right play, you have to do your job. You have to do your job and execute the call. And then if he gets something on the call, get the guy on the ground with the ball and go to the next call. So we'll have some things and he'll have some things and that's what's made him and that style of offense great is it's a constant challenge in game. He's going back and forth and you, your players, him, everyone is going back and forth and that's what's so exciting about the challenge of playing a guy like him in his style of offense and what those coaches do."

On the cutoff for tipping hand on defense: "You can do some things. You can do a lot of things on defense.  You can have looks that are made specifically well we're moving now or we're not moving now.  Or you can have some things done off the clock and things like that. I won't say where we're going this week."

On how far the defense has to commit: "It depends. When he's in his real fast, it depends on the time, the series, all that stuff. And then it's whether you do commit. What if you get caught? Well, if you get caught, you get caught, run to your spot. You're asking, some of the specifics we've coached our guys to do. Some of things you're asking, everybody tries a little something different on him because he sees everything that you've done in the past; he knows. So it's a combination of all those things that you use and maybe there's games where you turn some of that on or off. We've been preparing for no-huddle the whole time and we've been preparing for all those situations. But some of the things you mentioned, coaches have used and people have tried over the years in some form or another. Some teams go one way or another."

On if it helps that Manning uses a lot of the play clock: "He hasn't all the time this year. He has different paces."

On his tendency to use all of the clock: "In the past he has. This year he's been faster."

On the Broncos offensive identity: "I think they are working. They're learning their scheme just like most first-year staffs and players are learning their scheme together. I think Peyton has a good grasp that you need to run and throw on offense because there's two things you can do. McGahee runs hard. The other backs run hard. They have a nice mix and they're building their mix and in different personnel groups. And like we were talking about, he can change the tempo at any time. So they're right in the middle of that process and they're getting better and they figure out between series how far they want to go, if they want to put more tight ends on the field and run it and do play-action shots and deeper passes. Or whether they want to spread out and get into what he used to look like in Indy. They do both and they do both well and they're still learning how to do it. He's playing at a high level. His brain is really good."

On Andre Carter: "Andre is out here working. I have some history with Andre. Very excited he's here. He's working. He moved around well today and we'll see how he progresses. He's a smart guy. He knows a lot of defense."

On Philip Wheeler: "Phil has done a good job being able to stay in the moment. He has been focused on going to the next play and really he's been all over the place because he just goes to the next play and chases the guy with the ball. What's been most impressive is how he's able to relay to us what he actually feels and does during the play and he comes right off and communicates it and goes right in and makes adjustments."

On Tyvon Branch: "Oh man, he's a good player. He loves football. He loves it; he really does. He plays fast. He loves football. He's a pleasure to coach and be around. He's a great teammate. Shoot, he's just around the ball all the time. He does a good job with the guys. I can't say enough about him. He's a special player."

On if it's too simplistic to say he's a tackling machine: "No, that's a good description. He finds the guy with the ball. The next step for him will be hopefully we can continue to work together to get him in spots to affect the ball more – some more takeaways, hit the quarterback more. I mean, he chased Big Ben [Roethlisberger] out of the pocket a few times last week, that was good. So he's around the ball all the time and we hope it stays that way."

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