Quick Hits: Rich Bisaccia getting prepared for his first game as Raiders interim head coach

Oct 15, 2021 at 03:08 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

Raiders Interim Head Coach Rich Bisaccia addressed the media one final time before his first game as head coach Sunday. The Raiders travel to face the Denver Broncos for their second division game of the season. Both teams are coming off their second loss of the season and are desperate to get back on track to improve to 4-2 this season.

Here are the best soundbites from Bisaccia's Friday media availability.

On the status of quarterback Marcus Mariota:

"We are going to talk about that this afternoon, but he's really had a good week of practice. He looks really 100 percent healthy, so we are excited about what could possibly happen here over the next few days."

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On the overall mentality and focus of the team going into Denver:

"I think what they've done a great job of is when they've come in the building, they've done a really good job preparing like they had been before. Again, I said the uniqueness about this earlier in the week, but our offensive staff now is intact. ... Greg [Olson] has certainly taken the lead on that along with Tim [Berbenich] and Coach [Tom] Cable and all those guys. And then there's been no change on defense, there's been no change on special teams. So, I think we've gone through the meetings to some degree as usual preparation and now we'll see what the presentation of the preparation looks like. I think it's been a good week as far as football goes."

On how Hunter Renfrow has performed as punt returner:

"Hunter makes great decisions back there. He's a little bit fearless at times, but I know he counts on the corners outside to do a good job holding those guys up. I think we have to get our return game going a little bit to kind of put us at the next level. I think we've been playing pretty solid in coverage and our punter is playing well and our kicker has been playing well."

It's Broncos week and we're still thinking about Dwayne Harris' 99-yard punt return from 2018 😳 #TBT pic.twitter.com/QnRB0qXiOJ
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) October 14, 2021

On weather conditions playing a factor in special teams:

"I think the challenges are usually the weather and then the decision-making process as in, do you really want him to hit a big ball here? Do you have the wind? Do you not have the wind? And it effects the punt game as well if it's a windy day. So, those are the challenges up there, and not to mention the fans.

On the team maintaining their composure in a rivalry game vs. Denver:

"We ran into an issue in the Pittsburgh game up there on the road where a guy ended up getting ejected. We've talked about that. We've talked about it to the team, and I just think we are going to do the best we can to keep our Raider poise in check. Again, we don't want to lose the emotional part, the zeal part of how we are trying to play, but also we have to do it in a framework of how we are supposed to play football in the National Football League."

On his emotional state going into the game:

"I feel like we are all going to take the field together and again, we will see what the process looks like as we go through the game. It's certainly going to be new for me in that way. ... So, we'll see what happens but I'm not feeling really any different at this particular point."

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Las Vegas Raiders offensive line coach Tom Cable during practice at Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center.