Head Coach Mike Vrabel 9/7: "We have a long way to go"

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

You spoke to us about winning the second half, and that didn't quite happen.

Mike Vrabel (0:06)

No, it sure didn't. And again, that's, you know, it's frustrating. You know, we have to, you know, understand how sometimes these games are going to go. And, you know, we just didn't do enough in the second half, you know, give them credit, and we certainly didn't do enough. We missed our opportunities, too many penalties, you know, things, you know, the turnover and things that just, you know, again, just didn't take advantage of bad football, and then we're able to, you know, have bad football ourselves. So, you know, we have to, we're never going to accept winning. We have to embrace moving on, and we have to do that quickly and get these things fixed and go on the road in a division opponent.

Nicole (0:49)

Mike, I guess, how surprised were you by that second half, and what do you learn from it that you can take it to the next level?

Mike Vrabel (0:55)

I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised by anything. I'm surprised that, you know, I just want to see, you know, now we'll see where we're at. We'll see what kind of football team we have, what kind of leaders we have, to be able to come back in here and get to work. And, you know, I think that that'll be the true test. You know, we always talk about culture and everything else, and we'll see where we're at as a culture and as a team, and if we have guys that want to work and stick together, it'll be a big challenge to do that.

Nicole (1:25)

How would you assess Will Campbell's performance in his NFL debut?

Mike Vrabel (1:28)

You know, I think that that's tough right now, Nicole. I apologize. I had to look at the tape. I just, you know, again, there was, I'm sure there's going to be some good plays, some plays we'd like to have back that he would like to have back. I think that would go for pretty much everybody, and I think that there was some good football, just certainly not consistent enough in all three phases.

And that's kind of what it looked like for me, and I'll try to give you a little better answer after looking at the tape.

Nicole (1:58)

Mike, I know it's hard to match with them, given Gentian Bowers, but they seem to be running pretty well when you guys went three corner, and then obviously throw on you a little bit late when you went base. Any, can you just talk about the thought process?

Mike Vrabel (2:09)

Well, just trying to mix it up. They really, you know, we didn't think that the, you know, the run game had hurt us, and then they, you know, we picked us a couple of times, and, you know, they hit a couple of long ones, and they hit some X plays, which we talked about that being a key. So, you know, we'll get back together, and I thought we settled down really well defensively. I thought the first drive was, you know, not our best, and then I thought we settled down. I thought they played well. I thought they played hard. We just, you know, weren't able to make enough there in the end. And again, I made a decision, you know, on fourth and 10, with, you know, close to five minutes to punt, would like a better punt, and we had them stop, and that was the plan, and that didn't work. And then they hit one, and we just didn't have enough time there at the end to do anything. That was the decision, you know, that I thought was best for us at the time, and that, you know, didn't work out. But situationally, we'll have to continue to improve you know, we moved the ball, we made the kick, we tried to be on side. So again, it's just, you can't get down two scores late in the game.

SPEAKER_4 (3:23)

Mark, can you go to the far right?

Mark (3:25)

Over here, Mike. After Andy's kick in the first half, the team went nearly two quarters without getting the scoreboard again. Do the Raiders do anything different on defense?

Mike Vrabel (3:35)

I mean, they mixed in some pressure, and you know, a little bit of, you know, a little bit of mixed coverage, and, you know, but again, give them credit, and, you know, we'll have to come back, and we'll have to be better and more balanced and be able to run the football without, you know, making it first in 20 We overcame some of those, but, you know, just too difficult. And, you know, but again, it's a start, not the one that we wanted, and we got a long way to go, and we're going to be resolved to get it fixed, and the people that are here are going to be committed to getting it fixed together.