Head Coach Jack Del Rio
The Oakland Raiders were back at practice on Wednesday to prepare for their approaching game against the Kansas City Chiefs. This will be the team's first face-off with the Chiefs this season, after being unable to defeat them last season. Head Coach Jack Del Rio talked with the media this afternoon to talk about the Silver and Black's preparation for this Sunday. Entering Week 6 the Raiders are 4-1 and will be tasked with facing a tough opponent.
Here are the quick hits from Del Rio's time at the podium:
**He shared how he prepares as a coach and what he expects of quarterback Derek Carr.
**
"For me as a coach, I look at everything and analyze decision making; look at the whole league, see trends, and things like that. So we study it and work situations. It's situational awareness. Then for our quarterback, that's what we ask him to do. Do his job, work his process, [and] get himself ready to play as well as he's capable of."
Del Rio expressed how it feels for the team to be 4-1 and how is still motivated to get better, despite the early success.
"Yeah, it's great to be, after five games, 4-1 and have a share of first place. I think as we look at ourselves and we're honest with ourselves, I think we see a lot of things that we can do better that we need to do better as we go forward. I think that's a healthy perspective for us to have. I'm happy with that because anything short of that would be unrealistic."
He talked about the Chiefs second-year cornerback Marcus Peters being a difference maker on defense.
"To me, I look at him and say, 'Really good football player.' Grew up here locally. We liked him coming out of the draft. He's done a great job. He's one of many good players on their defense and on their football team. Certainly you need to know what you're doing when you're going his way."
**The Raiders skipper made it clear that communication is key in order to be successful on the football field.
**
"I would just say the ability to communicate and be on the same page is imperative to play good defense. That's just where you start. Then we get into the shedding blocks and tackling and proper leveraging and all the other basic fundamentals of playing good defense. We believe in our ability to teach. We believe in the guys we have, and we believe that we're all in it together."
Del Rio addressed the clash between the Chiefs and Raiders over the years, but is primarily focused on the team.
"I'm thinking about all the Raiders. There have been some great games over the years. I think for it to be a really good rivalry, I think both teams have to have success. So we're looking forward to having some success because that's what our part is. Have some success, do well, play a good game against a good team."
