The Oakland Raiders are one day closer to taking the pitch, as they'll host the Chicago Bears at Tottenham Stadium this Sunday.
All week, the team has been preparing near Watford, training and practicing at The Grove. Thursday afternoon, following practice, coordinators Paul Guenther and Greg Olson took the podium, as well as rookies Josh Jacobs and Hunter Renfrow.
Here are the best bytes from their podium sessions:
Josh Jacobs is currently averaging five yards per carry. Thursday, he explained to the media how he's able to turn what would be little to no gain, into extra yards.
"I say there's a lot of things that go into it. Obviously, trusting the o-line, working with them. I know how good they are, so just trusting and believing in them, and just wanting to. Half the game is kind of mental. Just knowing that you're going to get hit, or knowing that you need to make a play, that's kind of how I go into it each play, and I just try to give it my all every play."
If you thought the rookie would be fazed by facing the Bears defensive front, think again.
"It don't fade me at all. I look forward to the challenge, it's going to be fun to face the best defense in the league as a rookie, and to see who I compare against them, and how we compete against them."
Rookie wide receiver Hunter Renfrow shared why he thinks people contemplating becoming NFL fans should invest their time in watching.
"It's such a fun game. I know there's passions everywhere. Kind of coming over here and going to the Tottenham game, you see how much enjoyment is in that sport, and it's the same thing in America. Whether it's high school, college, or football we grew up playing this great game, and it's the same energy. We grew up fans of these teams and we just have so much enjoyment playing. The game's changing, a lot, becoming a lot safer, and in my opinion it's one of the greatest games in the world."
Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther has known General Manager Mike Mayock for years, but Thursday he took a moment to share a story about the first time they met.
"I was a Head Coach when I was 25 years old at a small college outside of Philadelphia and his father was a long-time high school coach, and I went in there and I had about five schools that I was going to go recruit that day. I went in his office about 6:30 a.m. and he took me through the whole Philadelphia area, 'You have to go see this guy, you got to go see this guy.' So I spent the whole day with his dad, and he goes, 'By the way, you got to meet my son, Mike. You guys would really get along.' So, Mike at that point, he was selling real estate, long time ago, and doing TV announcing and he and I meet and hit it off and we always said one day we'd work together, and now it's come to fruition. He's done a great job for us already, he's really on top of the landscape of the NFL, the colleges and all that stuff."
Offensive coordinator Greg Olson shared his evaluation of second-year left tackle Kolton Miller thus far.
"Yeah, that's part of the reason why we signed Trent Brown on the other side, is that we think we have two formidable tackles. I think Trent has shown that he can come in and play the right side and has played very well, and Kolton I think has accelerated his development on the left side. We've been pleased with Kolton's development as a young player, we're happy with where he's at, we certainly know he's going to get better but he's just kind of a guy that gets better through experience and now he's four games into the season, through the first quarter, and we like where he's at."
