Monday was a work day for the Oakland Raiders as they began their on-field preparation for their Thursday Night Football match-up with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The day after a game is not typically used for on-field work, but with a short week, the Silver and Black took to the practice field under the lights at their Alameda facility. David Ausberry, TJ Carrie, Jonathan Dowling and Carlos Rogers did not participate due to injury.
Following the evening session, Interim Head Coach Tony Sparano addressed the media and spoke about the challenges that the short week presents32onthefield for his team.
"The challenges are more in getting the players' routine down more than anything else," said Coach Sparano. "I think we did a good job here today of trying to keep practice at a time when the game is going to be played, so that was really important for us today – to give them maximum rest between the time that the game ended yesterday and the time we actually took the field today."
Coach Sparano also spoke about Kansas City Head Coach Andy Reid and the Chiefs, and why they have been successful the past five weeks.
"They're a good football team, a well-coached football team, a good team, a physical team, a team that can possess the ball for long periods of time," he said. "They do a tremendous job keeping the ball on third down. They're an explosive team and they play real good defense."
Rookie quarterback Derek Carr also held his weekly press conference on Monday night and echoed Coach Sparano's thoughts about the Kansas City defense.
"They have talent everywhere," Carr said. "They play very hard. You can tell they are very well-coached. They don't just leave guys open, they don't just blow coverages. It shows."
Thursday night's game against the Chiefs will mark Carr's first primetime game in his young career, and the quarterback spoke about his excitement to play on the big stage and what it would mean to him to notch the team's first win.
"Man. It would be awesome," he said. "It'd be great for our fans, it'd be great for our team, for our coaches. That's what I get excited for, that's what I play for. I want to see everyone else smile. I want to see our fans happy. I want to see our coaches happy, my teammates happy. I want to see everyone smile and that's what makes me excited."
Carr and the Raiders will be back on the practice field tomorrow.
