Sad News: Raiders Fear The Worst As 3 Star Players Down For Chargers Duel
On Thursday, the Las Vegas Raiders will host the Los Angeles Chargers in the latest edition of what has been a pretty heated rivalry through the years.
Both teams are struggling with a 5-8 record, and some may dismiss it as a throwaway game between two pretty inept teams.
However, given the history between the two squads, it could get pretty competitive, as both will want to win badly, if for no other reason than for pride.
Both teams will be short-handed, as the Bolts will be without star quarterback Justin Herbert, who fractured a finger on his throwing hand, as well as stud wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas could be missing running back Josh Jacobs, star wideout Davante Adams, and pass rusher Maxx Crosby, per Ari Meirov.
Jacobs is arguably underperforming, especially compared to last season when he led the NFL in rushing yards, but he has still put up 805 rushing yards and six touchdowns in 13 games and is such a key threat for the Raiders.
Adams is at 867 yards and four touchdowns this year, which marks his lowest production in several years, but he is still a big threat downfield, especially in big situations.
Meanwhile, Crosby has accumulated 13.5 sacks, 22 quarterback hits, and 18 tackles for loss in 2023.
For the Raiders or Chargers to have any shot at making the playoffs this year, they will, in all likelihood, have to win all of their four remaining games, and even that may not be enough.
But when these two teams face off against each other, records don’t seem to matter for those three hours or so.
Raiders’ DC Graham Entire Presser Chargers Week
HENDERSON, Nev.–The Las Vegas Raiders (5-8) have a short turnaround this week as they host their AFC West rival Los Angeles Chargers (5-8) on Thursday Night Football. There is frustration in Raider Nation, and not just from the fans. Everyone in “The Nation” knows that the Raiders beat themselves on Sunday, and they are chomping at the bit to get back on the field and get back to winning. DC Patrick Graham spoke moments ago ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers game this Thursday. You can watch the entire press conference above, and read the transcript below.
Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham
Q: Your defense is performing exceptionally well right now. When it’s performing on that level isit more of just keeping on track or are you still looking for nuances and to make changes? Coach Graham: “Each week is so different, so again the main objective for us is to keep them from having more points than our offense. So, again, that’s how we judge ourselves in terms of how we’re doing, so that’s the most important thing there. And then we know in this league, each week is different, so the main this is try to – within the six days, or in this case the four days – see what’s best to stop this opponent to minimize their playmakers. They have a good offensive line, they’re working well together, the skill guys. I know the situation at quarterback, but from what I saw on the tape, I mean this guy can throw the ball; seems pretty confident and like he has control of the offense, so it’s going to be a challenge tomorrow night.”
Q: Jack Jones comes in and in two weeks and makes a humungous impact. What is it that allowed him to adjust and make an impact? Coach Graham: “Some similarities with some of the verbiage coming from New England. Again, I haven’t been there for eight years, but I’m sure there’s some similar verbiage that goes on between the two defenses. The fact that he’s been well trained, I know that — whether from college to the pros, I know the coaches that have dealt with him. And he has great energy; great energy, loves football, I’ll take those guys any day of the week.”
Q: Was there any frustration from your defense last week, any finger pointing when they were shutting them down and getting nothing from the offense? Coach Graham: “We’re all professionals here and our job is to minimize what they do offensively and stop them from scoring points, and the main objective is to win the game. So, the biggest thing is this group is a resilient group, and again, they worry about what they have to do, they do their job. And the thing is we know we have to do our job better each week – improvement, it’s all about improvement. And the reason guys don’t get frustrated is because they’re not thinking about it. They don’t blink. Whatever the situation is, it doesn’t matter; they know that we just have to go out there and do our job.”
Q: Your blitz rate is a little low this month, is it fair to assume against a guy making his first start that you might want to heat it up more? Coach Graham: “I mean, there’s no way to answer that question without giving anything away. I mean, we do what we think’s best for the game. Sometimes it’s to blitz, sometimes it’s the drop eight, sometimes it’s to rush four, rush five. Again, we’re going to do what we think is best. Everybody’s seen what everybody’s done – Week 14. The program stays the same the whole time – stop the run, try to tackle, and then try to affect the quarterback, whatever you think’s best there, disguise, pressure, man, zone. I’m purposefully giving you a vague answer, so I’m not trying to insult your intelligence, but it is what it is.”
Q: Do you think they’ll do a little more quarterback run-game with him? Coach Graham: “When you have a guy that hasn’t played a lot of snaps, my job is to be ready for everything and then prepare the guys to be ready for anything. So, I mean, I don’t know what he’s going to do, I know he’s pretty creative in terms of what he’s done in the past. So we’re going to do what we think is best and prepare — that’s the fun part about our job on defense. We have to prepare for a lot of stuff, a lot of motions, formations, players, coordinators, situations. I enjoy it. And then jam pack that into a short week, it’s pretty fun. It’s pretty fun.”
Q: Tyree Wilson inside, now that you’ve seen it on film and saw how successful he was last week? Coach Graham: “In my career, when you get those young players, those young rookies, and you move them inside, the defensive ends, it’s gives them the opportunity to grow and to use their hands. Because however you slice it, when you’re talking to somebody that’s had his success, he probably really hasn’t been blocked since he was in Pop Warner — truly blocked. So when they get to this level, now they’re professionals, and guys that have skill sets better than what they went against in college, again, they have to use their hands. And that’s a tool that [Rob] Robby [Leonard] has used in the past, I’ve used in the past. Chandler Jones, I think I told you guys before, we started him rushing inside, it helps those guys. They learn how to use their length. And then it’s going to help them even when they go back outside.”
Q: Did you hear him say at all that it was fun? Coach Graham: “To me? You know rookies don’t really talk to the coordinator. I wish they’d come and talk to me more often. Rookies, sometimes they’re a little nervous to come and talk to me. But I’m sure his smile — I mean, he’s pretty stoic-faced most of the time so, I think he was smiling.” Q: Can you talk about the film you saw on Easton, was it preseason, college? Coach Graham: “I keep telling you I don’t have any hobbies, I watch everything. Everything. Everything I think is important, no hobbies.”
Q: Jerry Tillery was in his draft class in 2019 did you speak to him, maybe get some insight? Coach Graham: “This is my job. Whatever you can think of, we probably did it.”
Q: Coach Antonio Pierce talked this morning about how at the beginning his idea for the team as a whole was to match Maxx Crosby’s energy. How did you get the rest of the defenders to match that energy? And how do you continue this energy through these four weeks as the season goes? Graham: “That comes from Maxx [Crosby] and the players in the locker room in terms of the energy. I think one of the things that – I don’t want to speak for AP [Antonio Pierce], but he’s pointing out the objective and then the players they go execute that. For me to say that, again, they’re here in the NFL, they’ve been highly successful people in their lives, I don’t know if any words from me is going to motivate them, I can always guide them, as a teacher would. I try to guide them in the right direction, I think AP made a great point about, let’s match Maxx’s energy. And it’s really the players making a choice, no different than when they were kids, and they made a choice to try to be NFL players. That’s what the fun part of our jobs is, outside of winning games, outside of wearing sweats every day, we get to see guys that are really motivated, guys that are young that made these decisions at young ages that continue to make good decisions and they execute it. I’m always proud of those guys.”
Q: Isit hard to look at what happened on Sunday and be like, ‘That was our best defensive performance without the win,’ or could you still look at it and be like, ‘This was our best football?’ Also, can you talk about the leadership of Marcus Epps and what he brings to the team. Graham: “Anytime we lose, obviously that’s not the objective. So, is it hard? I hate to lose. So, is it hard? We just learn from the experience. Each experience, each game is a chance to get better and to grow from it whether you win by 40 or you lose by three, it’s always a chance to grow. And we use that tool the best we can. In a shorter week it’s a little bit different. But we use that tool the best we can to see some improvement.” — “[Marcus] Epps, again, I think the nature of the position, the safety position, the communication is huge. So naturally you’re thrust into a leadership role, and thankfully he’s embraced that. And he has natural leadership qualities in terms of the players gravitate to him in the cafeteria, the players gravitate to him when we have team building exercises. So, it’s always a positive there. I’d never met him before, but you saw on that he was one of the guys from Philadelphia communicating, you heard great things about him, and that’s always important for that position. Naturally that’s going to happen to a certain degree but when it’s natural for them to do it, it’s an A+ for us.”
Q: How much joy do you take to watch guys grow and continue to get better under your leadership? Graham: “I mean, the biggest thing is any teaching in technique improvement, that’s coming from Rob Leonard and Matt Edwards. Those are the guys dealing with them day to day, play to play, in and out meetings. And it’s also him making a choice. Once you leave college and you don’t have any but football to do, I mean it’s a transition for them. Before they had to balance study hall they had to balance going to class, now you’re in professional football, this is your profession. Everything you do is geared towards being the best you can for those 17 opportunities on Sundays during the fall. And I think it’s their decision to do that and I don’t really want to take any credit for that. My job is to make sure I don’t put them in the wrong spot and not mess it up. But I think it’s his decision, hard work, and then the coaching you receive from Robbie and from Matt.” The Silver and Black will turn around quickly and host their AFC West rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers, on Thursday, December 14, at 8:15 p.m. EST/5:15 p.m. PST.
