QB Terrelle Pryor totaled 88 passing yards and 31 rushing yards. Photo by Tony Gonzales
POSTGAME QUOTES
QB Matt Flynn
On the offense: "We executed some plays well. We did well on some third-downs and kept moving the ball, and that was good. As a group, as a whole, I think it was a good start for us."
On the first-team offense's fast start: "I think that's definitely a reflection of how hard we've been working. I've been saying that we're making strides and we still have a lot of work to do, but I think that timing, that trust factor with everyone, is coming. There are definitely things we need to clean up and we'll watch it [on film], but my job is to get the ball in the hands of the playmakers."
On QB Matt McGloin: "He did great. He's had a great camp so far and it's fun to watch those guys that you've been helping day in, day out, go out there and perform well."
On the limited reps during the preseason: "It was a good start, it was. These preseason games are funny because you get in there and start having some fun and get in a rhythm and all of a sudden you're out. That's the way it is; that's preseason ball. We'll get more opportunities out there. We have three of them left, and I think that was a good start for us today. [We have] a lot of good things to build on and a lot of things that we didn't do so great and we can improve on."
QB Terrelle Pryor
On the second-team offense: "I thought the two group did great. The whole team, both sides of the ball, I thought we did great. Besides my interception, I thought we did great. At the end of the day, I know that I can't turn the ball over in the red zone. All they had to do was kick a field goal and we would've lost the game. That's a situation that [Head] Coach [Dennis Allen] talks to me about a lot, and I understand that. I got greedy, and as a quarterback, you can't get greedy. I could've easily ran it in and I got greedy and wanted to throw a touchdown pass."
On his interception: "I looked at the pictures and I could have easily ran it in, but I got greedy. At the end of the day, God has given me a chance to play this game and he's given me an opportunity to learn, and I learned right there. As long as you can take one or two things out, and I learned one thing for sure, don't turn the ball over there, don't force anything and don't be greedy. I'll never do that again and that will never happen to me again."
On whether he forced the throw because he wants to prove himself as a passer: "Not really. I understand everybody's wants, but at the end of the day, I have to do what's best for the team. I thought today I threw the ball great [and] I felt great. I would've had almost a perfect completion percentage, [but] I had to throw the ball away in the red zone a couple times, which I learned from the first time not to throw an interception. We needed three points. We got the three points before the half went out and I learned within a possession, don't force anything and don't be greedy."
On the offensive line: "I thought the linemen did an awesome job blocking for me and letting me sit in the pocket and deliver the ball accurately to the guys and let them go and do their thing. I felt the two group, especially from the linemen, from the running backs cutting and making great cuts, I thought it was just a team win and that's how it has to be."
WR Brice Butler
On his emotions playing in first NFL game: "I kind of got a little teary-eyed on the bus. When I got here, I had to put all that behind me because I was like, 'I have a game to play,' and when I came out of the tunnel it was awesome. I just had a lot of juice, a lot of energy; it's hard to explain it. I'm 23. I've been waiting all my life for that moment, and it happened and it was awesome. It was a great experience."
On touchdown catch: "It was an inside release and I ran up the field. I knew Matt [McGloin] was coming to me. In practice, every time I do it with him, he throws it to me. I was running down the field; I could see the ball in the air. I'm running and I was like, 'my legs aren't giving me what I need right now,' so I just dove and I just caught it. And after that I didn't know what to do with myself. I just started running."
On whether his play training camp translated to game performance: "I've been blessed with the situation that the quarterbacks are just throwing me the ball in practice and my job is to catch it. That's what they drafted me for, that's what they pay us to do as receivers, catch the ball. I'm just fortunate enough for those guys to throw me the ball and trust me enough to throw the ball and I catch it; I'm just trying to make some plays."
On last week of training camp: "I mean, for the most part, they throw the ball and I catch it. I think I've dropped one or two passes all camp. There was one like the second day of practice and there was one the beginning of the week, all the other ones I'm grabbing. Not too many balls are hitting the ground. They hit me in stride for the most part. The one thing I have to do is catch the ball."
On chance to move up within young receiving corps: "All I'm focusing on is doing what I have to do and doing my job every day. I can't focus on what the coaches are thinking or what the other players are doing. I've done that in the past and it didn't really go well for me so I'm really just focusing on what Brice has to do and what I can do best for the team."
LB Nick Roach
On how he felt with first team defense: "It felt great actually. When you get down in that tough situation to be able to keep the points to a minimum or keep them off the board, like on that second drive, it was good for us."
On challenge of playing Dallas: "Once the lights go on and it's game time, you do want to win. It was a big deal to get in that situation and be able to be successful in it."
On rookie LB Sio Moore: "That boy plays with a lot of life. I apprecaite guys that play defense with passion and want to be good. So it was good to see him make some plays."
LB Sio Moore
On pregame jitters: "The first play, I was kind of in a surreal moment. After a while you have to play ball."
On his early sack: "Man, it just helped being able to play, to tell you the honest truth. Mike Jenkins came up to me before the game and was just like, 'Alignment. Know your assignment and the rest will happen as it comes.' I was excited to be out there with the guys."
On interaction with the crowd: "Yeah, I had a little fun with them. We had the music going and it was good to interact with them and come up with big plays. It's crazy when they get loud and I love it."
On early responsibility within the defense: "It's great to me because it means the coaches want to be able to put me in positions and I want them to be able to trust me, and the bigger thing is for teammates to trust me as well. I just want to work for what I have."
On hitting someone besides teammates: "It's way more relieving to go against another team. Now we have a bigger one next week coming up and I'm just happy to keep building the team."
On the speed of the NFL: "It's faster. Half of an alignment that's wrong or half a step late can get you beat or put you out of position. It's about going back and watching the film and being able to see what I can fix, change, or be able to put myself in a better position."
HALFTIME QUOTES
Coach Allen
On the play of the quarterbacks in the first half:"I've been pleased. I think the quarterbacks have done some good things. Obviously with the two turnovers, that's something we don't want to have, so we have to correct those mistakes. We can't turn the ball over. We've done a good job moving the ball offensively but the self-inflicted wounds, we can't have."
On the first-team defense not allowing a touchdown:"That was good. I think after the turnover, for us to keep them out of the end zone was good. They moved the ball a little bit on us on the second drive but we were able to bow our backs up and keep them out of the end zone and then block the field goal, so we've done some good things in the game but we have to be more consistent."
Matt Flynn
On playing in front of Raider Nation: "It feels good man. It was a lot of fun. You take this much time off. Practice is one thing, but it's a whole different ballgame when you come out here to play a game. It's good to get your feet wet little bit, see a different color helmet and really just play the game. Try to take what we learned down in practice and apply it on the field. We did a pretty good job. We'd like to get it in the end zone, but there are lot of positive things that came out of it."
Nick Roach
On playing in front of Raider Nation: "Honestly it was cool to see so many people come out for the first preseason game, you never know what the turnout is going to be like but I guess it's just a testament to the fans that we have."
On the revamped defense: "I'm excited to see what we can be. Obviously it's early to tell a lot of things but the foundation we've been able to set the past couple weeks of training camp with the start that we had, I think it was good for us."
On the blocked field goal: "Honestly I was slotting over and saw the ball go up in the air and in that situation, technically I'm not supposed to touch it, but I felt like I was under it and it was going to hit me so I had to either get out of the way or try to catch it and do something."
S Tyvon Branch
On the blocked field goal in the second quarter:"On the first field goal, Tracy [Porter] got really close to blocking it so I think the wing tried to overextend to get him and I just shot the gap."
On playing in front of the fans for the first time this season:"It's always a great feeling to get out here in front of our fans. We have the best fans in football, the most passionate fans in football, so it's always great to get back out here in front of them."
On playing with DB Charles Woodson: "Charles is one of those living legends that's still playing football so it's a great opportunity for me."
On the defense:"We have a bunch of veteran guys that all have a chip on their shoulder, so everyone that we have out there just wants to prove themselves and that's a great defense to be on."
