Raiders DC Patrick Graham Bengals Week

You can watch the entire podcast below:

Below is a transcript of Coach Graham’s entire press conference today:

Q: Obviously, Cincinnati has some good players. Ja’Marr Chase, what problems does he present?

Coach Graham: “Some good players? Yeah, I mean, he’s one of the best in the league. If you want to say he’s the best, I don’t have a really good, strong argument against that between him.” (Justin) Jefferson and a few other guys, and then they have a whole team of receivers. They’re all fast, they’re all big, I think they’ve done a really good job in their HR department. about how they formed the team on offense. Considering the quarterback is elite, this is my first time playing against him and I’m really impressed with his toughness. Before you start talking directly about it. The skill level, you talk about the toughness he has in the pocket, sitting there, moving the ball down the field, making throws, his intelligence. You can see him changing the game and you can see them doing it. We’re all on the same page: receivers, O-line, defensive backs. So, kudos to these guys for what they did with HR and getting these guys together. I mean, you see there are some smart players, not just because they have an Ivy League guy, but there are some smart players who are really skilled and present a lot of challenges. So it won’t be easy.”

Question: I know that preparing for this is probably not interesting?

Coach Graham: “Oh yeah, that’s interesting. I’m a competitor.”

Q: I guess when you first see a player like that, like taking a deep dive on a guy like Joe Burrow, is that a fun challenge for you?

Coach Graham: “Yeah, it was fun. I mean, again, on Monday you hear us talking in the office, like some of the guys were already against him. I sit there and say, “God, this dude is good, man, and it makes me smile because of the problem. I understand it causes night aches and some headaches, but I’m really excited to play against him. I was also very impressed by the defenders. , (Chase) Brown and (Zack) Moss, I mean, in terms of their ability to get into the hole, get to the second level, I think they had a good combination. Again, I think HR did a good job. work to bring this staff and this group together, and they are obviously well trained.”

Q: Yesterday Antonio Pierce talked about Trevon Moehrig and how playing in the box allowed him to play more on the ball. What did this transition mean for him? I know that in the past he was mainly a security guard. What level of play have you seen from him in the last two games?

Coach Graham: “Football is a big man’s sport and he’s a big man, so I wanted to put him close to the action. And yet, he does both. He does both. He went down, it really has to do with the position, especially in today’s league where you have to operate from multiple safety views, throw the ball and stay on it. But I mean, Tre (Tre’von Moehrig) has just grown as a football player. I think GA (Gerald Alexander) did a really good job when we came here two years ago, did a good job of bringing him in, and now GA (Gerald Alexander) is here and he’s really growing and growing. And again, as I told you guys, it’s a choice that they make, a choice that they make to say, “Okay, I’m a professional football player, there’s nothing else for me to do except get.” good at football,” and then you have to do your best. I’m very proud of what he did. And he’s always had that level of skill, and you’re just starting to see him reap the rewards of his hard work. Really proud of this guy.”

Q: Maxx Crosby has been visibly struggling with an ankle injury for the last couple of weeks. However, statistically he is still one of the best players in the league. How impressive is it to see him still putting in the effort? And how many standards or messages will that send to the locker room?

Coach Graham: “Well, I don’t talk about injuries as an assistant coach, but I’m always impressed with everything Max (Crosby) does. If you’ve been around him as long as we have, you’d be impressed with everything.” Whether it’s his daughter’s birthday party, the way he carries himself in meetings, his preparation, his preparation for a meeting, his preparation for passing. Focused and focused, I’m always impressed with what he does. He could do whatever he wanted on this field. And the beauty of it is that he is always looking for more. He’s always looking for the 1% to get better when you have such an elite player. , who wants to get better, wants coaching and wants to work on his craft, it makes my job easier.”

Question: Tyree Wilson got his first sack last game. How cool was it to see him survive?

Coach Graham: “When you’re dealing with young wingers or young forwards, D-line players, again, in my opinion, unless you really, truly love elite speed, there’s some adjustment required to our game because they “I’ve never been blocked before. So again, I’m patient. I can’t speak for everyone in the world’s patience, but he worked hard to position his hands correctly and get his eyes in the right place. , playing with a good base, strengthening his base because he needed to get a little stronger in the lower body, I’m just glad he’s reaping the rewards and for me the reward isn’t necessarily just getting sacks. I get it all the time because they’re on Twitter and people talk, I get that sacks are a sexy thing to get, but he’s been under pressure, pushing guards and centers during his time here. Of course I like it when they get the bag, I know he will agree with me on this issue, but I like it better if we win. This is what we need to start adding up.”

Question: How relieved were you when Robert Spillane was able to return to the game?

Coach Graham: “No different from the fans, the players on the field, maybe Spilla himself (Robert Spillane). I mean, you obviously want this guy back. But no one will care about my feelings, so I don’t really feel relieved, sad or happy. I’m always glad we have the best players, and Spill is one of our best players, so I was just glad he was okay. But the feeling of relief, I mean the game is going to go on, so Spiel didn’t want me to sit around and worry about it.”

Question: You mentioned that Andrei Iosivas was an Ivy League player. Do you really think Princeton is Ivy League?

Coach Graham: “Yeah, HYP – I mean, it’s HYP; Harvard, Yale, Princeton. But there is only one truly best. We all know who it is.”

Q: You talked about accumulating wins and your defense is doing its part. How much more do you think they need to do to help this team win?

Coach Graham: “Our job on defense is to keep them from scoring less points than our offense. So this is our part. So that’s all that matters, all that matters. This is if we talk about Sundays. Between Sundays it’s about improvement and winning. So today is an important day for us. There was great energy in the room today. There was great energy during the walk. I can’t wait to see how practice goes today and see us win today on Thursday. And then come to the meetings later and win them right here. But our job, and it hasn’t changed, is always to make sure the opposing team’s offense doesn’t score less than our offense or the team’s points. So this is our job. So, this job description will never change for us. I’m not trying to be rude or anything, but that’s how I act, I don’t push myself, but that’s our job. I don’t care how many points we need to keep them.”

Q: The offense needs a lot of attention on third down, but how important is it this week to limit Cincinnati’s success on those early downs so you can get into positions that really unleash the defense?

Coach Graham: “It’s going to be critical. It’s going to be critical. You can see the consequences. I mean, don’t live in the past, but last week when we didn’t get off the field, we did it.” clicked again, but we did not leave the field. We took out the early explosives, but we didn’t do what we’ve been doing all year. I have to fix this, I did it. we need to do a better job on that, we need to do a better job putting the guys in the right position. But what they did last week was 75% lower, I mean that’s unacceptable, I mean you’re going to get a call. to the director’s office regarding this matter. We can’t do this. No, no, no, this is not good.

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