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Q: Chip Kelly had said on his conference call that he had recruited you when he was at Oregon. Was there ever any thought of Oregon or were they kind of on the periphery of your decisions?**
Pryor:I just talked to the Philly media and I told them that I loved his personality and the fire he brought to the game. He came to my high school and spent a lot of time there, from showing me uniforms to showing me the playbook, some of the stuff that he runs. Seeing that was very interesting and intriguing, but my whole thing that cut it out right away was the distance. Oregon is just pretty far, and I know my mother likes to come watch me play and I couldn't afford to have her flights to get out there. So that's what the deal was.
Q: Did you ever look at the Oregon offense from a distance and think what you could've done there?
Pryor:Absolutely. There's a lot of things that you can look at in hindsight, but there's also a lot of things you've got to look at: How many quarterbacks have they developed that have made it to the league, how is their offense run – you don't see a lot of quarterbacks from their system make it into the NFL because of their style of play versus the style of the NFL, you don't learn how to drop back and run plays, you just look at the sideline and learn. I came from a high school like that, so I had to make a grown-man decision when I was 18 and go to Ohio State because they had a lot of pro style stuff and protection stuff that I knew I had to get caught up on him. So, that's why I made that decision.
Q: The Raiders have adapted to your style of play. After you were recognized as the number one guy for the Raiders, have you seen how they had to alter their playbook once you were named the starter?
Pryor:I just think Coach [offensive coordinator Greg] Olson is an outside-the-box kind of guy. He thinks outside the box and he's a very sharp guy. So obviously as I'm progressing and becoming an in the pocket passer, I think he's trying to find things that can help make us successful. And we're there. We're doing pretty well and I think he's done a great job figuring that stuff out. From watching tape on RGIII [Redskins QB Robert Griffin III], watching tape on [Panthers QB] Cam [Newton], [49ers QB Colin] Kaepernick, all those guys do the same exact thing and that's given our team the best chance to win. So I think Coach Olson is doing a fabulous job with that.
Q: After going back to watch the tape from last week, how do you think you held up in that game?
Pryor:The pick I missed high to Brice [Butler] was just a misthrow. There are a lot of misthrows in the NFL, they just happen sometimes. The other pick was unfortunate. Like I said though, we were running the ball really well, so why not just run the clock out and handle it from that situation. I think we did a great job with that. We came home and came out of it with a win.
Q: What's the next stage for this team in the passing game, how can it get better?
Pryor:We'll get better. I mean, we've had maybe two bad games, maybe one bad game of passing. Tom Brady had 115 yards this week, so it happens. We're not dwelling on that. We're going to be explosive in the passing game; there are nine games left. We can make a lot plays and there are a lot of plays to be had. We're not really looking at what we didn't do well or what we didn't do or had the opportunity to do. We're looking to the future and we see a lot of greatness in the passing game coming up in the future.
Q: A lot of people, outside of the locker room, looked at the Raiders as a potential four-win team. You can get to four wins at mid-season. How big of an accomplishment would that be?
Pryor:I mean this is not a potential for four wins, we're definitely going to get to four wins. That part's easy. I'm not worried about that. Whether it's this week or next, we're going to get to four wins and get a lot more wins, I guarantee that. If we work our butts off, it's only clear for us to win, and I expect that from every team in the NFL to think like that. For as hard as they all work, I expect them to believe that they're going to get more than four wins, more than eight wins. That's my mindset and that's guaranteed.
Q: Any win is big but how cool would it be to go back to back against two Pennsylvania teams?
Pryor:I don't even think of it like that, which you could. It was big to get it against the city [Pittsburgh], bragging rights a little bit you could save versus Pittsburgh, but Philadelphia is four or five hours away. It's not very relevant to me, I just think getting any win in the NFL is fantastic and we need to do that. No matter who we're playing it's going to be the same feeling, winning is wining and it's better than losing, no matter who we're playing.
Q: What's your initial impression of the Eagles defense?
Pryor: [Connor]* *Barwin on the edge, he's their guy that creates pressure. Like I told the Philadelphia media, I just think they have a lot of guys on the team that are very competitive and love to play the game of football. Like I told them, anytime you get a chance to get on the field, with a team that loves football like our crew does, like the team we have here, you have to always be on edge. You have to bring your A game and that's what comes to mind about the Philadelphia Eagles defense.
Q: Andre Holmes is getting more snaps every week, what does he bring to the offense?
Pryor:He's a big target. We have to find ways to get him the ball. He's a very big target. He's a sharp kid too. I think just like the other receivers too. If he's in the progression he's going to get the ball and any time you get one on one matchups he has to big a guy I like to, I have to get better with that and I will.
Q: Terrelle, you said it seemed like a good idea to just keep running the ball in the first half. But for four weeks in a row now, the offense has gone stagnant in the second half. Do you guys get a sense that you have to keep your foot on the pedal or do you just have to execute whatever call comes in?
Pryor:Yeah, that's pretty much it. I know how hard Coach [Greg] Olson works game planning and getting us ready and installing things. The guy watches film, I walk into his office and he's like half asleep most of the time but he's still grinding and taking the right notes and understanding football. You can walk in and he'll start smiling like he's wide awake, trying to act like he's not asleep. He's a guy that you respect, whatever he calls. I know he has the best interest in me and the offense and I just think whatever he calls, the whole team, offensively, believes in. We have to sharpen it up. We have to hit the guys that are open. I missed a guy that was wide open in Denarius [Moore], things like that. We have to hit them, we have to block so we can open holes. We have to be the guys that are getting the basics down when he calls a play, and if we block it right, if we throw it right, if we do everything right, the play's going to have success.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about Brice Butler's development?
Pryor:He's a very tactical guy. He knows how to run routes; he's a sharp route runner. He sees the defense. He understands leverages. I just think this past game he had those two drops and it happens to the best of us. I've seen the best receivers in the game dropping balls, wide open balls; it happens. Nothing's going to change about him for me; it's just the type of thing that happens. It happens when you drop the ball and get interceptions, sometimes you miss. I was just watching film today and saw some quarterbacks miss, some very good quarterbacks, it just happens. It's all about how you step forward the next play and I think he understands that he has to step forward and he has to put his best foot forward. I think we're all a work in progress; none of us are there yet and we have to be in each other's corners at the same time.
Q: Coming off a game like you had on Sunday, how much do you still want to prove that you're more than just a running quarterback in the league? Pryor:I think we're a little past that. You can go and watch against the Broncos and a couple other teams; I threw the ball very well. I'm not really into trying to prove to anybody it's all about getting the win and at the end of the day we got a win. You don't have to question me if we're winning the game, now if we lost and we had that bad game, yeah. But, just win baby.
