Insight from Raiders’ assistants on Abram, Jacobs and more
Raiders assistants add insight to key players such as Johnathan Abram, Josh Jacobs, Darren Waller.
Raiders players got the week off from the media Wednesday, with three assistant coaches lending some insight on a 3-2 start and what’s head.
Defensive backs coach Jim O’Neil, running backs coach Kirby Wilson and tight ends coach Frank Smith took some time to field some video teleconference questions on some of their key players:
A sampling of their responses:
Jim O’Neil
Bio: Former defensive coordinator with Cleveland Browns and 49ers. Linebackers coach with Buffalo and New York Jets. College coach at Eastern Michigan, Towson and Penn.
The play of safety Johnathan Abram
“He’s better than advertised. He’s exactly what this team needed. He’s exactly what this defense needed. We wanted an alpha dog in the back end that was going to make the middle of the field a scary place and fly around and be a relentless player . . . John is one of those players who is truly all gas, no brakes. It’s a lot easier to slow guys down than speed ’em up . . . I know skill players on the ohter side of the field, they’re finding him pre-snap. Because they want to know where he is.”
Development of cornerback Trayvon Mullen
“I think he’s taken a big jump and I think it started with the mindset that he came in to training camp with. He put on some good weight. I think he increased his lower body strenth and the game just slowed down for him a little bit. Instead of going to the line and just playing, he’s going to the line with a plan and he’s executing his plan.”
Versatility and the use of Isaiah Johnson at safety
I tell the guys, if you’re not the bonafide No. 1 safety or the bonafide No. 1 corner or the bonafide No. 1 nickel then you’d better have some versatility if you want to stay around in this league. Isaiah’s done a nice job. We’ve worked with him some inside during camp and as we get going we face some of these real good pass-catching tight ends. He’s a big body with length that can challenge guys at level one, and he helps with some of the man coverage stuff.”
Kirby Wilson
Bio: A 22-year veteran who at various stops has coached Emmitt Smith, Adrian Peterson, Curtis Martin, Edgerrin James and Le’Veon Bell. First year with Raiders was last season in Josh Jacobs’ rookie year. Was Jon Gruden’s running backs coach with Tampa Bay in 2002 and 2003.
Jacobs friendship with Marcus Allen
“Marcus has really spent a lot of time with him just mentally preparing him, how to read defenses, understanding the front, how to have that recognition pre-snap and obviously the post-snap you’ve got your read and key and it goes from there. But they’ve got a great dialogue going on. I know Josh is extremely happy that they’re communicating. I think it’s only going to improve as you move forward.”
The addition of Devontae Booker
“We just had to figure out how do we implement him while at the same time giving our best football player most of the work. And it took me a few weeks as a position coach to figure that out, to be honest. I had a converrsation with Booker and told him I’ve got to do a better job getting you more involved with the offense. I think we’re on a really good pace right now to do that moving forward.”
Finishing off the Chiefs on the ground
“That’s always your ultimate goal, ending in victory. During the time out there in the fourth quarter, Devontae and Jalen Richard went out to Josh in the middle of the field and said, `It’s time. Take us home now. It’s your ball.’ That’s what we did. I know Alec (Ingold) takes great pride in being in there and being the lead blocker for Josh. Josh takes pride in using his fullback. Quite frankly, a lot of running backs don’t know how to run behind fullbacks. The best is yet to come for those two.”
Frank Smith
Bio: Ten-year veteran, spent eight years as tight ends coach with the Chicago Bears. Spent five years with the New Orleans Saints as an offensive assistant, specializing in offensive line. Blocked for Ben Roethlisberger as an offensive lineman at Miami of Ohio and was a graduate assistant coach after his senior year.
Jason Witten’s influence on Darren Waller
“The great thing that Darren is able to extract from Jason is experience, vision, handling of situations. He’s been a great sounding board in our morning meetings. Things Darren’s doing, Jason may have been doing earlier in his career, or a situation arises, something as simple as recovery and player load. I think it’s not only beneficial for Darren but the whole group.”
The development of Foster Moreau
“One game Foster’s playing a little but more, another maybe it goes the other way (with Jason). I don’t think it’s going to hold back his development or growth. Your every day goal is personal development, being the best you can, whether you play 15 plays a game or 25. Overall, you have Darren in the room and Jason in the room, its going to bring out his best here in the future.”
Utilizing coaching technqiues necessary during a pandemic
“When you’re sitting at home in your office or guest bedroom and you’re doing meetings, you’re going, `OK, how do I transfer this information?’ I’ve found through this whole thing the key would be coaching points, stuff that I had to simplify to get the message across would be the things I carry forward through all this.”