Offensive Lineman Jermaine Eluemunor
Q. Were you surprised that your personality was kind of embraced by this fan base so quickly? Did you set out to make sure that people knew who you were and how happy you were to be here?
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: It was a little surprising. I know how big this fan base is, but that's just me. I've been myself this entire time, this entire process. That's one thing I truly believe in. If you're yourself, you show people who you are. Hopefully, people follow that and like your personality. Everything y'all seen when I signed here, the last couple weeks, just having fun, that's just who I am and how I was raised and how I like to be.
Q. When you signed, you didn't know where you were going to play. How did playing guard come to be? What were those conversations like?
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: Yeah, just one of the openings they needed, and me being as flexible as I've been over my career, I just fell into it. I started as a left guard when I was in Baltimore before I got traded to New England. I was training to start as a left guard in Baltimore the entire off-season. So it's nothing I'm not familiar with. If you watch my career over the last seven years you've seen I started left guard, left tackle, and right guard and right tackle. I can do it all. I just want to be out there.
Q. You had a lot of success with Carm. What makes him such a good coach?
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: He just believes in the technique and knows how to make a successful offensive line. The offensive lines we have had the last two years we've been really good because of his coaching and the schematic side. It's easy to go out there and just try to block a three tech, but if you know how to do it and the best way to do it and then also how the play that you have is going to affect your block, that is what separates the good from the greats. Carm does a really good job putting these guys in the right places at the right time, so that's how you open up holes for the running backs and get the quarterback time to throw the ball down the field.
Q. Going back to the positional flexibility, do you have a preference?
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: No, I just want to start. I just want to be out there. For the first five years of my career, if you look back, I was in and out of the starting lineup trying to figure out how to be an NFL player.
Now that I've had a taste of being a starter, I just want to be out there—I don't care where it is.
Q. How do you characterize the offensive line right now?
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: It's a fun group. I don't count teams; this is my fourth team. I've been blessed to be in a lot of great offensive line rooms, and this one falls right into that. AT (Andrew Thomas), EZ (Joshua Ezeudu), Ev (Evan Neal), (Jon) Runyan, (John Michael Schmitz) Schmitty, Marcus (McKethan), (Aaron) Stinnie, Marcelus (Johnson), Jake (Kubas) and Jimmy (Morrissey). We have so many great guys in that room and a bunch of different personalities. I feel like the offensive line room is the best room in the NFL just because it doesn't matter who you are or where you've been; as soon as you get in that offensive line room, you're one big family. Everyone is goofy and funny. I have so been having a lot of fun with it.
Q. Going back to positional flexibility one more time, we see you; you're at left guard pretty much every time we've been here. You still take snaps sometimes on the right tackle. Is it a big deal that you have to make that switch? (Plane interference.)
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: I don't think so. I played right tackle mainly for the last two years, so I was able to hone in on that and really craft my technique to get it where I wanted to be and where I was comfortable. So now that I'm moving to left guard, I'd rather just stay there and really hone on that position and perfect that. Just what I've learned and what I've been through in the NFL at right tackle shouldn't be hard if I have to go out there. I trust the guys in the O-line room, the tackles. I believe in them and know what they're capable of. That's why I've been able to stay left guard and let them ball out over there.
Q. It was obviously a priority of the organization to supplement the offensive line. Where do you think your group has made the biggest strides during this portion of NFL schedule?
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: Confidence has been a big thing. Easy going out there at tackle going against Kayvon and Burns every day. Sometimes, you're going to lose a rep, but it's how you come back from that rep, and you learn and don't make the same mistake twice. He's been killing that. AT, Schmitty, we can see all these guys getting more and more confident, and that's really dope to see. As an offensive lineman, confidence is one of the biggest factors in being a great player. You have to be able to go out there on third and long and know what it's going to take in order to get the job done. The way the O-line is going right now, the confidence is growing, and it's really cool to see and be a part of that.
Q. Have you won your share of battles though?
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: I'm trying. Dex is a hell of a player and that's a big boy, so. It's definitely a learning process for me. I'm having a lot of fun. This is probably the most fun I've had in my career during the off-season.
Q. Just the camaraderie?
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: Yeah, the camaraderie and just how fun it is playing with these guys. Everyone has a bubbly personality, smiling and just being out here, just loving playing this game, and it's really cool to see.
Q. Is that unique?
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: I wouldn't say it's unique. This game isn't supposed to be so serious. It's a child's game, and you're getting paid to do it. You should be having fun doing it. I haven't seen one guy not smiling out there every single day. The energy is contagious. Really inspiring.
Q. You bounced around the last two years. Did you take reps at guard or pretty much exclusively at tackle?
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: With the Raiders?
Q. Yeah.
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: No, I stayed at tackle, but that's -- actually, I take that back. There were times when I played multiple positions in practice just because I was capable of doing it. That's what I pride myself on: being able to play all the positions on the offensive line. Other than center. That's something else.
Q. With your journey as a player and the ups and downs, I'm sure there were times when you doubted whether you could get to that point. Finally, stabilizing as a player, what lessons can you bring to that table? Like you said, you have some young guys on this team that have gone through it the last couple of years in terms of confidence and lack thereof.
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: If you look back at my past career, confidence was something I really struggled with. It was the time in my rookie year when I started two games in a row and didn't do enough to stick. Then I got traded to New England and then I was in Miami for a stint and then I got cut. That week I thought my career was done. And then the Raiders took a chance on me, and then there was a time where I didn't get signed and I didn't have a team, and luckily Raiders wanted me back and I kind of knew -- if you look back at it like two years ago, that was it for me. I didn't know if another team was going to take a chance on me. It was all or nothing. I really want to be a great player in this league, and I know I'm capable of doing that. I just have to put my head down and just work. Being around a guy like Maxx Crosby in Las Vegas changed my career, in my opinion. He is just balls to the wall. He is the hardest worker I've ever been around. That inspired me. So now I'm at the point in my career where I'm finally on the road to the player I want to become. I'm not there yet. I'm nowhere near that player, but I'm becoming that player more daily. If I can go out there and help these young guys become the players, I know they're capable of being, too, that's dope for me. That's what I want to be and who I want to be. Just show guys that it doesn't matter where you are right now. If you keep working with your head down, the sky is the limit.
Q. When you're training on your own the next six weeks will you be focused on left guard?
JERMAINE ELUEMENOR: Yeah, I trust Ev at right tackle. Like I said, confidence is a big thing. I'm trying to pump confidence into him because I know what he's capable of and the type of player he can be, and I'm excited to see that come out.
