Las Vegas Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce's Entire Wednesday Presser Cincinnati Bengals Week

Cincinnati Bengals On SI

Transcript

00:00What were your thoughts on Jackson playing center on Tendon?

00:14Yeah, Jay's going to practice today. We'll see how it goes the rest of the week.

00:18And I really thought for Jackson going from left guard to center, zero reps probably since OTAs.

00:25I can't think he got any reps in training camp. No, he didn't.

00:30So I thought that was a really good job by him. We had no snap issues.

00:33Just to go there and make the mic calls and just communication.

00:36And we know Jackson's a smart individual, obviously.

00:39And I thought the coach did a good job getting him prepared in that situation, which was obviously during the OTA.

00:44Is Dylan going to be able to practice today?

00:46Yeah, he'll be limited today.

00:49Coach, Tybee Wilson got his first sack of the season Sunday against the Chiefs.

00:53Do you feel like that's something that could help get him going?

00:56Well, we hope so. I mean, that was big.

00:58First of all, the getoff, like that's something we had talked about last year.

01:02Tendon's get off the rock on a snap, using his hands, using his length.

01:06And then just the explosion that we saw just to finish, which was really huge for us.

01:09Just need that production from him as well.

01:12Because, you know, we talked about it when we lost Malcolm.

01:14Somebody else opposite Max got to step up last year.

01:16Didn't see that it was Malcolm.

01:18This year, you know, still rotating guys, moving around.

01:20But whenever Tybee can be productive, either inside or outside, that's a plus for us.

01:24You know, and Jack was saying, you know, the previous week,

01:28he feels like teams aren't testing him as much as they were, you know, late last season.

01:32And are you seeing the same thing on the field that he's not getting as many opportunities?

01:37No, he's getting opportunities. He's getting opportunities.

01:40I don't know if corners won't be thrown at 10 times.

01:43That's not a good sign either.

01:44You know, then they figure you're the fish, right?

01:46So I think Jack just needs to keep doing his job, you know,

01:49playing with good leverage.

01:50He did a much better job tackling effort over the last couple weeks.

01:52He just continues winning the plays that he's there to make.

01:54Go ahead and make them.

01:55AP, the Bengals are top 10 in the league,

01:57and Blitz has called this season in quarterback knockdown percentage.

02:00How does it change your game plan when you're playing against a team that blitzes a lot?

02:03Yeah, you got to protect the quarterback.

02:04It's no different from what we saw at the end of the game last week versus Kansas City.

02:07Teams don't tee off.

02:08Once they figure out, you know, there's a weakness

02:10or you haven't picked up something in protection,

02:12they don't just keep going at it.

02:13Obviously, these guys got two good defensive ends.

02:1691 is a really good football player.

02:18High effort, high motor, competitive, solid.

02:21You know, when they bring their backers and their stars,

02:23they're really good at, you know, pressures.

02:26After looking back, do you see Zemir getting another shot

02:28or has Madison kind of earned a lion's share of courage before right now?

02:32I think Madison's still the starter, but we got to get Zemir going.

02:35I mean, Zemir, you know, I hate to keep referring,

02:39but last year we saw a lot of positive stuff from Zemir.

02:41And seeing a little bit of it earlier this season,

02:43I think he's got to get out of the funk as well, you know.

02:45I know those fumbles early on really got to him,

02:47then he had an injury.

02:48But it's always good when we got him going downhill.

02:50I mean, he's a big gentleman who's physical.

02:53And obviously, I don't think, you know, everyone can see one running back in.

02:55If you look at the whole league, everybody's using two backs.

02:57Do you think it's a confidence thing with him?

02:59Or do you think it's an additional?

03:00We just got to get him going.

03:01You know, two, three carries in and out the lineup.

03:03You know, you got to get in the flow.

03:04Everybody needs to get in the flow of the game.

03:06And then sometimes the flow doesn't allow that.

03:08But, you know, we got to find ways to get him in the game and keep him in.

03:10And you know how this works.

03:13When part of the game is struggling, people point fingers at the play caller.

03:17Where are you on that with Luke Getzey and the play calling?

03:22Yeah, I think it has to get better.

03:24You know, there's been a lot of opportunities for us to score points

03:27and make opportunities.

03:28And, yeah, that's on the play call.

03:30But then also, like I told our staff and I told our players, it's all of us.

03:33It's not – it's easy to see everybody's pointing a finger at Luke or myself.

03:36But, you know, the whole line play, quarterbacks, the running backs,

03:39you know, turnovers, missed blocks, missed execution on plays,

03:43alignments of details, all those things have to get cleaned up.

03:46So, yeah, it does start with the coordinator.

03:48He's got to be the one that takes the fall for that

03:50and takes – gets most of the blame.

03:51But it is collective.

03:53Is that – are you comfortable moving forward with him

03:55just remaining as the play caller?

03:57Yeah.

04:00Antonio, Desmond Ritter got on the field for one snap,

04:02but you don't see it because he got wiped out by the penalty.

04:05How is he kind of taking to the playbook?

04:08And where is he right now?

04:09Yeah, much better this week than last week.

04:11I mean, we got him in here and we're here until 10, 11 o'clock at night

04:14trying to get him up to speed.

04:15Had a package for him.

04:16But if you really look at the game, I think we had a 12-play series,

04:19a 10-play series to start the game off.

04:21And then the next time we got the ball was in a two-minute situation.

04:24So, just trying to get him in the flow of the game.

04:26Don't want to interrupt what we're doing as well from moving the ball.

04:28But I think, you know, as we go on throughout this week and out the season,

04:32we just got to find ways to get him in the game.

04:33He has an element, obviously, with his athleticism and playing experience

04:37to help us out.

04:38And how did Brock come out of the game?

04:40Did he just head for the next rate?

04:42Yeah, he's good.

04:43I mean, Brock's tough.

04:44If we tried to pull him off for like six plays in a row,

04:46he wouldn't come off the field.

04:47So, not worried about Brock this week at all.

04:49AP, speaking of coming off the field, Robert Spillane has played almost 99%

04:52of the defensive snaps this season.

04:54Any thoughts in terms of his workload at all?

04:56Yeah.

04:57Nope.

04:58He's a linebacker.

04:59He's got a lot of stuff going on, right?

05:00It's contract year for him.

05:01He's a warrior.

05:02He loves ball.

05:03He loves being a leader.

05:04He's a captain.

05:05I went to him right after he got out of the sit-and-acts.

05:07I thought, you know, like what we all thought, he was done.

05:09And he said, no, I'm fine.

05:10I'll go out there.

05:11I mean, it's just I think one of those things that scared him.

05:13But between him and Max, you can't pull those two guys off the field.

05:15You want more players like that.

05:17When you look at the Bengals receiving core, you have Jamar Chase, T. Higgins.

05:20Those are some really good receivers.

05:21Can you just talk about the challenge they'll bring to a guy like Jacorin?

05:24And what have you seen from him so far just throughout this season

05:27that really makes you comfortable with that challenge?

05:29Yeah.

05:30Probably the best combo of receivers.

05:31Still players that we went against all year, along with the quarterback.

05:34But Jamar Chase, man, is elite.

05:36I mean, he's one of one right now.

05:37You watch him after the catch.

05:39Physicality, speed, acceleration, catch radius.

05:42I mean, I can go on and on.

05:43You know, obviously one of the top receivers in the league.

05:45And T. Higgins is just a match-up nightmare.

05:47I'll be honest.

05:486'4", 220.

05:49Plays with a little mean streak in him.

05:51He has the speed and agility.

05:52So we've got to do a good job first and foremost.

05:54When they catch the ball, because they're going to catch balls,

05:56we've got to tackle and get them on the ground.

05:58And then we have opportunities,

05:59because there is opportunities to make plays on the ball.

06:01We have to make those plays.

06:02But I think we don't need to chase plays.

06:04I think both Jack and J.B. and Nate have done a good job.

06:07You know, when the opportunity is there, punch it out or get the guy on the ground.

06:10And if we continue to do that, we'll be fine.

06:12Are they an example of a team that the record doesn't necessarily line up with?

06:16No, no.

06:17Now when you look at the still players and the quarterback and then defensively,

06:20yeah, it might be a bad year for them from that standpoint.

06:22But you watch their sound, they're in the right places.

06:25The question was asked earlier about the pressures.

06:27They give you a lot of things to think about.

06:29No, we're not worried about that.

06:30I mean, yeah, we've got to look at it like they look at us as 2 and 6,

06:32but our records both can be flipped.

06:34The game could have went a lot of ways in both of our games,

06:36but our record is what it is.

06:38Somebody has to win this game, right?

06:40And we need to win more importantly, and that's all we're worried about.

06:43How important has Trayvon Merritt been,

06:45especially now while in the box, you know, the success of your defense?

06:48Yeah, I think it's good that you noticed that,

06:50because a lot last year, even this year, early on, he was up in the post.

06:54There's not a lot of action.

06:56You get the dude near the box, you're dealing with him like a linebacker.

06:59The way he's coming down, physicality, instinctive,

07:02playing behind the line, scrimmage.

07:03You've seen some TFLs there.

07:05And more importantly, he's just finding his way around the ball.

07:07I think last week was a prime example of that.

07:09Obviously, I know he got into the end zone, so did we.

07:12But he's just been making plays.

07:14Ever since Epps went down, he's been more and more vocal,

07:17understands that he needs to control the back end for us like Epps had did,

07:20and he didn't have to worry about it.

07:21But now he does with Isaiah Palomel next to him.

07:24To follow up on Tyree, I know the sack was the kind of splash play,

07:28but he's had a lot of good snaps the last couple weeks.

07:30What do you kind of attribute that progress for, and how do you keep it going?

07:34Just year two, more and more reps.

07:35I've always said it from day one.

07:36He just needs to play a lot more football.

07:38The more we can get him out there on the field,

07:39the more he can stay out on the field, the better he'll be and the better we will be.

07:43You mentioned the quarterback.

07:44What makes Drew Burrell so dangerous?

07:46He doesn't flinch.

07:48He doesn't flinch.

07:49I mean, he sees it.

07:50You see a single high, that ball's going to the outside, right?

07:52He sees two high safety, he makes the correct throws,

07:55throws a check down, or hit the ball in the middle of the field.

07:57But more importantly, just I think what shocked me was the athleticism

08:00I saw the other day from the Giants game.

08:02You know, 50-yard touchdown, I've run a linebacker, Isaiah Simmons, who runs 4-3.

08:06Competitive, tough, smart.

08:09You can see him battling all the injuries, man.

08:11Everything's rallied around this player, and he's a special player.

08:14So we've got to disrupt him, get him uncomfortable,

08:16and obviously not allow him to have easy targets.

08:20Can you manage anything differently in terms of injuries or rest,

08:23anything like that with a bye week on the horizon,

08:25just in terms of maybe sit a guy out, give him two weeks off,

08:28that kind of thing if they're close to being injured?

08:30No, we need everybody we can right now to win games.

08:33So there's no resting.

08:35Keep losing, you'll rest for a lot longer.

08:39Michael Mayer's designation, I think after Sunday he's ready to come back.

08:45Do you anticipate that he's going to be back?

08:46I think we're getting close.

08:47I do think we're getting close.

08:49You guys good?

08:50Coach, just a really random question here.

08:52You being a former player and also now a coach,

08:55how important is NFL international in the games?

08:58How does that affect the league, or how does that help with the fan base?

09:02Yeah, I played in two games as a player, one in Osaka in 2002

09:06with the Washington Redskins at the time, now Commanders,

09:08and then 2007 with the Giants in London versus the Dolphins.

09:11I thought it was really cool because the fan base is totally different.

09:15They're cheering at all times.

09:17I don't think there's ever a home team.

09:19But just as the NFL has continued to grow,

09:22and obviously we see the love for it on television,

09:25we see every aspect of streaming.

09:28But international, you can start winning that.

09:30I think that's best for all of us, owners, coaches, and players

09:33because there's going to be more money being made.

09:35And even more importantly, the visibility of our players, right?

09:38Because you can get a lot more international players

09:40playing in a game of football in the National Football League.

09:42So credit to that.

09:44And I think each and every year, just from being at the league meetings,

09:47you just probably see that growing.

09:49I hope one day we get to be one of those teams.

09:51All right, thank you guys.

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