Q: So have you taken any time off since last year? It seems like you're always working out.
Pryor: No, I'm trying to find a way to get better every day through mechanics, through being sharper on pinpoint accuracy. I take those things serious to get better and just for the team overall. I haven't taken a break. I probably won't.
Q: What's the vibe like in there introducing yourself to so many new people?
Pryor: That's the first thing I try to learn everybody's name when they first come because I don't want to say, 'Hey, what's going on?' without saying his name. I like to approach people by saying their name and then seeing how their day goes. So that was my first thing is, especially trying to be a leader, learn people's names, everyone's name in the building no matter who they are, and move on from there.
Q: Jacoby was talking about going over to Laney College and throwing the ball around. How does he look?
Pryor: There were some routes I wouldn't let him run because his foot. I don't want that to fall on me. I want him to be as healthy as possible because when he's healthy, he's dynamic. It was great. He looked good. There were a couple 9-routes I threw, go-routes, and he went down and got them. I threw 60-yard bombs and he would go and get it. So he can run real good still. It's just a process for him as well to get better and take it step-by-step to get better.
Q: How frustrating was it for you as a player, you've got a new coaching staff coming in, you want to start working and get the offense down, but you haven't been able to come in until this week? Is that tough as a player? I assume you want to get the book as soon as possible…
Pryor: I think it's tough, but everyone rises to challenges. I know I try to rise to challenges as much as I can. I just look at it as another challenge that's on top of my list I already have. It's nothing but another challenge for all of us as an offense and especially defensive guys. There's possibly eight new starters? So we're all starting brand new. It's a challenge. We don't want any excuses when August comes around, preseason and the regular dates come. So we don't want that as an excuse. We have to grind hard and be together as a team and get things done.
Q: What does the challenge of them bringing in a new quarterback and you fighting for that? Where does that rate on your list right now?
Pryor: It doesn't rate really. It's the business of the game. We had a great quarterback, at least to me, that left and we brought in another pretty good quarterback. You have to have good quarterbacks to win in this league. Matt's [Flynn] great. We have good chemistry already. Me and him, when we're setting things up, we come to each other and talk to each other about, 'How do we want to set up the next workout between guys off-campus whether at Laney? Or do we want to go outside and go over some plays and break the huddle just to get our snap counts down, switching back and forth?' So it's a great chemistry.
Q: Did it feel like a punch in the gut at all when they acquired him and they signed him to the $6.5? How do you mentally compartmentalize that?
Pryor: I don't really. They were paying Carson [Palmer] what? 14? 13 million? It is what it is, whether Carson was going to be here or it doesn't matter. I'd have to battle. It doesn't matter.
Q: What does it mean to you to hear the words 'open competition?'
Pryor: Open competition? Like coach says, 'cream rises to the top no matter what.' No matter what the position, everyone is going to battle. I believe the best player coming in there can give this whole team a chance, whether it's on the defensive line, d-back, receiver, offensive line. Whoever gives us the best chance to come out with a victory, which we need…I just think that's the main focus for everyone. We need to compete. By competing, you bring out the best in everybody.
Q: How do you think this new offense fits the guys you have from what you know about it so far?
Pryor: I like it. There's a lot of good things that Coach is trying to do, especially some of the schemes for Darren [McFadden] that we're doing a little different. It'll be great for Darren to get downhill a little bit. I'm excited. I know everyone else is excited too. Any time you start something new, especially coming in for the first week, guys were excited to be here. We have to carry that on later on when it's about six-seven weeks down the road, you still have to be excited.
Q: Does it have any similarities to stuff you've done or is it completely different? How different is it from what you've done either in college or here?
Pryor: Not really different. No matter where you go, coming into this new playbook, it's kind of really easy for me to grasp, because I've seen it the first year. I've seen a little bit of it in the West Coast and last year seen an awful lot. So you kind of tie it all together and you kind of put it in your head, 'Okay, the reads are the same. The only thing you have to get down is the concepts and the wording of the concepts.' I think that's the main thing is getting the wording down and getting with the guys and teaching them so they know exactly what you know.
Q: I think there's a national perception that the Raiders got rid of so many players. They're getting rid of salaries. They're still rebuilding again. Do you think in that room and just what you gather this fast that there's a different feeling in there?
Pryor: Hey, I think Mr. McKenzie and Coach Allen are getting guys in the locker room, period like this: that love football, love team first and they want to be here to win. If it's anything else, it doesn't matter. We want to have guys there that love to be around the guys, that love football and will compete.
Q: You can see that already?
Pryor: Oh yeah. I mean you can tell just from the guys he brought in. We don't want guys that, like Coach says all the time, 'Guys that are about women, fast cars, cars, we don't want any of that.' Competing, being a team player first, and loving the game of football. If you have guys like that in the same locker room and everyone has the same exact plan and sees it the same, you can't go wrong.
Q: You talked about working with Jacoby; what other receivers have you been working with at Laney?
Pryor: Everybody, even when DHB [Darrius Heyward-Bey], before he was [released]. Everybody, pretty much not the tight ends because the tight ends were gone, away. Brandon Myers, he ended up leaving too. We're going to get after it. Me and Matt we're going to have the guys probably tomorrow or the next day and go to work too.
Q: How important is what you're doing now for the camaraderie of getting to know these guys and getting on the same page, even just being in the weight room together and working out?
Pryor: I think the main thing is Coach Allen, he stressed this the first day, is that when you're hanging out with somebody every single guy and seeing guys and working hard with them and sweating and picking someone up when it's going hard for a rep, when you're together and you have that team togetherness, when it's time to really go to battle, you're going to be with that. You want to do a little extra work because you've been battling with this guy and you're a little close with the guy. So the closer you are as a team, I believe you'll have a lot of success. And I, for example, would look back as far as college because college teams, there's no cuts and all that so whoever is there is there. If we can all get together and have that sense of togetherness…I give the example of college because no one is gone. Whoever is there is there. If we can just get that concept together that we're all together, we're all one, see where we come out. It shouldn't be too bad. Like I said, we have to keep working.
Q: How much did starting that last game help you in terms of this off-season, in terms of knowing, 'Okay, I've been out in a game, played a whole game, know what I can do.'?
Pryor: Missed some throws. It wasn't a great day to have that game, but I had fun. Overall, I had fun being with the guys. They haven't been on the same field with me and it was my first time and I had a very, very good time with them. Even though we came out with a loss, it was just great to be in the huddle. One of the things I told you guys I wanted to work on was getting the plays out on time. I was in and out of the huddle fast and that was one of the goals I wanted to stress to myself. I had a good time. I just want it to roll over to this next coming year. We'll see what happens.
Q: I think what jumped out to a lot of people in that game was when the fight broke out and you jumped in and I think it was [RB Mike] Goodson you pulled out? To step in there and sort of assert yourself like that…
Pryor: Well, like I said, Coach Allen talks to us a lot about situations. Right there, that situation was, I believe we were in the red zone, and if we had gotten a penalty, it would have been 3rd down? It would have been 2nd or 3rd down and we would have been back. It would have been probably 3rd-and-25. Your chances to score down there at 3rd-and-25 is slim to none. You don't want a field goal because we were already down. My biggest thing was getting him out of there before…you never know if he would have run up and maybe threw a punch at him and there goes him; he's gone. And then we have to worry about 3rd-and-25 or 2nd-and-25 and we're in the red zone, which is the toughest part to score on. We didn't really score that well in that. That was my main focus. It was just a reaction to get out of there. I didn't care who it was. You have to do things right. We have to do things right to be successful.
