Head Coach Joe Judge
Q: What's your feeling on (Running Back) Saquon (Barkley) now that COVID's not an impediment for him playing Sunday?
A: Today's his first day really in the building with us. We'll have him see the trainers and see how that leads. We'll see if he's going to be available for practice or not. We really don't have anything leading into it until we kind of see him out there and moving a little bit. He's kind of in their hands right now.
Q: What's your expectation on him about the possibility of practicing?
A: I really don't have one until I get some feedback from the trainers. Like I said, he's been out of the building the last couple of days. We haven't had the chance to see where he's progressed to and where he's at physically, so they're going to take a look at him and move him around and then we'll see if he can progress and practice with us.
Q: With him, I would assume you need to see him practice in order to play?
A: I would say a guy who's been out for several weeks like that, yeah, we'd like to see him on the field and make sure that we can ensure how he's moving and that he can get out there and do things safely and stay on the field. In terms of like where he's at or our expectation, until they give me some information and feedback, it's all just guessing right now.
Q: (Safety Xavier) McKinney should be good for Sunday?
A: From all the information we have, Xay's in the building right now along with Saquon. Look, the only positive we have that we're still kind of waiting in limbo on is (Running Back) Gary Brightwell. He still has a chance to clear as well. He's been in the Zoom meetings and staying up to date on the game plan.
Q: How did (Wide Receiver) Kenny (Golladay) hold up yesterday? He was doing a little more than he had been lately.
A: Yeah, he had a decent day yesterday. He moved around with us a little bit more between Wednesday and Thursday. We'll see how he comes out today, but he had a couple of decent days for us.
Q: How close do you think he is to game action and being ready for game action?
A: Well, I know he's mentally ready and prepared for it, so we'll just kind of see how he moves around today and see if we can open him up a little bit and see if we think we can get him on the field and keep him on the field. I know he's pushing to get out there. He's been very open about wanting to play, so we'll make sure that he's in position to play if we put him out there.
Q: The last time, at least I saw Saquon, it was on TV and his ankle was about this big. Do you know at least that the ankle is back to where it's not –
A: You're referring to the Dallas game when it happened?
Q: Yeah, I mean, that's the last time I saw his ankle.
A: That's been a significant amount of time. It's obviously gone down since then through treatment and just natural healing. They've done some different things with him as far as whatever treatment they can do. He's assured us that he's moving in the right direction. But again, he's a very competitive player. He wants to be out there. He wants to be out there competing on the field with his teammates. We've got to make sure we can get him out there and see him before we go ahead and just take someone's word for it.
Q: So without this COVID situation though, would you likely be counting on him on Sunday?
A: I couldn't answer. That's all a hypothetical because we wouldn't have had a chance to see him on Wednesday when we got back out there. Not having him those two days with COVID removal really kind of changed a lot of things in terms of expecting what we would get to see out of him today.
Q: He was optimistic right afterward it wouldn't be kind of that long an injury, and he wouldn't be out that long.
A: You're talking about right after the initial injury?
Q: Yeah, I'm talking like the week after when he talked to us a few days later, that Friday. How come it's maybe taken longer and was there a setback or has it taken a while for the swelling to go down?
A: I think it's a combination of things without going into the specifics of every injury. I'm always hesitant to give timetables on things because every injury is different. Every body does respond different. So just by simply saying, it's an ankle, sometimes that gives you an artificial timetable to maybe what somebody else went through. Everyone's body's different. You've got to give them a chance to get out there and make sure you can play full speed when he does get out there. He's worked hard through it. He's done everything we've asked him to do. He's dealing with the medical team the entire time through. He's stayed involved in the meetings, whether it's here or through Zoom the last couple of days. I don't have a whole lot of answers for you right now on physically where he's at. I know he's continuously gotten better and when he's able to get out there, we'll put him out there.
Q: The Browns officially announced – the team announced that (Wide Receiver) Odell Beckham, Jr. got released. I'm curious what your thoughts are on him as a player from afar?
A: I would say just on any player, until it officially hits the waiver wire, they're still on someone else's roster. We're not going to comment on any player who's on other people's rosters. I'm not going to get into hypotheticals on that right there. I appreciate the question, just understand that's going to be the policy always.
Q: What do you expect from the Raiders on Sunday?
A: They're a well-coached team that plays at a high level. They play very balanced on offense. We expect them to come in here and try to establish the run and use the play action pass. They're definitely an explosive, downfield passing team. (Raiders Quarterback Derek) Carr does a great job of that, whether it's early downs or third downs. Especially when it's that third and call it four to six range, where you get a lot of man coverage. A lot of times you see Carr and he'll go and stay away from all the traffic underneath with the mesh routes and all and just take the one-on-one matchup outside. We expect to see him push the ball down the field. It's something he's done very well throughout his career and has been doing it at a very high level right now. Really, the offense, it goes through a lot of the backs and tight ends. The receivers are big playmakers, as well. Obviously, you've got (Raiders Wide Receiver Hunter) Renfrow and those guys on third down. You have to be aware of those guys. Really, those backs and tight ends with the early down runs, the screen game, the checkdowns. They do a very good job of being balanced and staying committed to taking the profit and then when the shots come, they take them. Defensively, this team plays fast. I expect them to come in here and really try to get after the quarterback and try to penetrate and disrupt the run and make you one dimensional. On the back end, it's a very play top down and make sure you check the ball down and then go rally and tackle you. In the kicking game, I always expect every time you play (Raiders Interim Head Coach) Richie (Bisaccia), they're sound, they're aggressive. He looks to always have something up his sleeve. You've got to understand with Richie, what's he looking at based on what you put on tape. You've got to go in understanding what gimmick or gadget is he going to look to make a play in the game, whether that's early – especially early on the road, it's been a history of his. But he's very aggressive when it gets going. In terms of their coverage units, they've got big leg specialists. They like to move the ball around on the kickoff team that leads into a lot of you playing more of a reactive mode showing where the ball is going to go. There's a lot of twists and folds. They've got a good combination of size and speed, so the fast guys play down there fast. The big guys flow off them and they cancel out lanes. They do a very good job of that. In terms of their rush game, they're very good on the field goal block and the punt rushes. (Raiders Linebacker) Cory Littleton's a guy who really made his name in this league blocking kicks for the Rams. He's carried that over with the Raiders where he's still being used in that right there. I'd say in terms of what we expect from them, we expect a team that's going to come in here, play balanced in all three phases and be situationally aware.
Q: There's probably going to be some sort of an emotional component for them given the week that they've had. Do you as a coach just have to discount all of that and just do what you just did and that's focus on the X's and O's?
A: All we can control is what we can control. I don't know what it's going to be for them in terms of in the locker room and any of that stuff. I couldn't answer that question. In terms of us, it's our responsibility to get ready for what's going to happen on the field.
Q: With (Wide Receiver) Kadarius' (Toney) thumb – I know obviously he's practiced on a limited basis this week. Did you guys have to do anything in terms of extra padding with the way that situation was or is that something you guys kind of took care of Monday night? Does it still affect him?
A: He was out here yesterday catching the ball well. So, there was some limited things with a number of players yesterday kind of being on a short week. In terms of how he came out here and practiced yesterday, he had a good day yesterday with us.
Q: With the bye week on the horizon, more so with Kenny and Saquon, how do you sort of factor that into whether they're ready for this week or whether maybe it's best for them long term and for you guys long term to give them basically another two weeks to get healthy and get ready for the second half?
A: To me, it always factors into are they medically ready to play in this game. Every game is important. While there is a bye on the horizon, right now we're focused on the Raiders. For all the players, it's can you get them healthy to the game where they can play, be productive and stay on the field? The bye week will take care of itself. We'll address that as it gets here.
Q: We saw (Wide Receiver) John Ross (III) pop up with a quad yesterday. Did he get hurt in practice yesterday? That's a new thing that we haven't seen the quad with him.
A: No, nothing happened in practice. Again, there's some bumps and bruises coming out of the game. He was out here yesterday moving around still.
