Archives for December 19, 2014

‘”It’s going great,” he said of the transition to a new team. “All the guys were welcoming. The coaches were welcoming. From my Miami days, they know what I can do. That sparks them up to block even more, because they know I can take it the distance at any given time, so it’s been a great transition.”‘

‘Mack, this year’s fifth overall draft choice, has done the University at Buffalo proud. And while the Raiders have infamously botched their share of first-round picks over the years, they sure seem to have gotten this one right.’

‘”Just going against (Rodgers), having my first career interception and my second career interception off him, it’s just a huge, huge confidence boost,” he said. “That’s going to allow me to play even faster and build confidence in myself, that, hey, I can do this. I belong in this league.”‘

‘”If there’s any blame it should be on me in anything that happens with our football team, first of all,” Marrone said. “Secondly, if it was a problem with one thing it would be very easy to fix. It’s really collective. And that’s probably 99 percent of all the problems that occur when you’re on the team. Sometimes a play will point out somebody, but at the end of the day when you’re evaluating all the plays it’s just a matter of trying to get 11 guys to be as efficient as they can and then when everyone has a clean opportunity to get it done does that player get it done or not? That’s how you evaluate it. For us, it’s been up and down and we’re just going to continue to get better.”‘

‘”He looks good, he really does,” Marrone said. “It’s just a matter of waiting until the end of the week to make a move there. The only concern I have is to make sure just from the standpoint of not really being in shape but just to be able to play and run plays in and out in and out, that his conditioning is right at that level. It seems to be ok. I think that will just get better. He looks explosive and he’s moving well.”‘

Raiders rookie Jackson brings ‘mean streak’ to field (Oakland Tribune)

Raiders sell out Sunday’s game against Bills (Contra Costa Times)

Breaking down the Buffalo Bills (Contra Costa Times)

Raiders’ deep draft class yielded no deep threat (San Francisco Chronicle)

Raiders defense depleted by injuries (AP)

Raiders defense trudges on despite injury plague (CSN Bay Area)

Raiders-Bills game sold out (CSN Bay Area)

Bills-Raiders Matchup No. 3: Watkins vs. Hayden (CSN Bay Area)

DE Wilson back to work (CSN Bay Area)

Practice Recap – December 18 (Raiders.com)

Coach Sparano’s Thursday Update (Raiders.com)

Greg Olson: “They’re a sound defense” (Raiders.com)

Jason Tarver: “We’re about playing with passion” (Raiders.com)

Murray: “We Have Our Work Cut Out For Us” (Raiders.com)

Mack: “I’ve Grown A Lot” (Raiders.com)

‘”If I have to use something from somebody else to prove my worth, then I don’t consider that being a man,” Williams said, defiantly. “The guys in this building, that’s all that matters to me. Anything else anybody else says is irrelevant.”‘

‘Bills allowed 2.8 yards per carry and no touchdowns rushing first six games; 5.0 per carry and 10 TDs rushing past eight games.’

‘Bills 24, Raiders 20.’

‘The Bills fell behind 21-3 – but rallied to win – in their last meeting with the Raiders. The Raiders won’t go quietly trying to make a positive statement on behalf of 2-8 interim coach Tony Sparano, but Oakland is turned back by a rugged defense on top of its game.’

‘”I think he looks good. He really does. It’s just a matter of waiting until the end of the week and make a move there,” head coach Doug Marrone said. “But, the only concern I have is just to make sure that, just from the standpoint of, it’s not really being in shape, just to be able to play and run plays in and out, in and out, in and out… that his conditioning is right at that level. It seems to be okay. I think it’ll just get better. I know he looks explosive and he’s moving well.”‘

‘”I think that we’ve played — it’s been two years now– we’ve gone through… we’ve played, I don’t know, how many quarterbacks that we played,” Marrone started. “We’re playing with a quarterback that wasn’t in our training camp. I think all those things are pretty big challenges when you’re trying to get things going from an offensive standpoint.”‘

‘Bills 30, Raiders 14.’