Before the Oakland Raiders hit the practice field Thursday afternoon, defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr., held his weekly press conference.
Here are the highlights from his time behind the microphone.
The defense is improving each week.
"The guys are really working hard and that's one thing I really take my hat off to them for – there's no one that works harder, no one is tougher, and they've taken on the mindset of growth and improvement every week, and we've done a great job of understanding what we've not done well week to week and taking that and improving that, and making that our purpose for improving to the next week."
He addressed the success of opposing tight ends.
"They're catching the balls and you have to give them a lot of credit. You can't just say, 'hey, we can't stop all the tight ends.' They're professionals as well. We're working on it and that's another area of improvement for us."
Norton spoke about TJ Carrie's transition to safety.
"TJ is a really good football player. We like to have good football players around the ball, and we're just trying to find a place where he can be more active and more productive in the middle."
Norton wants the Raiders defense to be "multiple."
"Without getting into scheme, we want to have multiple looks. Obviously you want to have the defense work to your personnel and so far so good as far as the defense working, the personnel applying to the defense, and multiple looks is something we like."
Charles Woodson continues to impress.
"Woodson has a long list of making plays. He's a playmaker and you want to have a team of playmakers. He's done a great job of influencing all the younger people on the team and he can do that. They already have respect for him, but when he does that at a time like that as often as he does, it just shows why he's able to be in his 18th year and still making plays at a high level."
