The Las Vegas Raiders were fortunate to land highly coveted and rising NFL star John Spytek as their new GM. One of the men who nicknamed Spytek “The Whiz Kid” recently spoke about the Silver and Black's new leader and gave some powerful insight into the NFL's happenings.
Our latest Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast episode features a former NFL player, General Manager, and current executive with the Pittsburgh Steelers discussing GM John Spytek, and taking the fans behind the NFL curtain.
You can watch the entire podcast below:
The Raiders were fortunate to sign Jeremy Chinn to replace Tre’Von Moehrig, and the talented free agent has disappointed in OTA practices.
Chinn spoke after OTA practice and was very open about being in Las Vegas.
Below is a partial transcript of what he said.
Safety Jeremy Chinn
Q: You've had a lot of versatility throughout the course of your career. You're able to move around different spots. What goes into that background of being personal like that?
Chinn: "I think it started really early on in my career, my rookie season. Just being in a situation where I was asked to do a lot of certain things and just kind of made my mindset like, this is the life of the NFL, like there's going to be a lot of different roles, a lot of different roles, a lot of different responsibilities. So I just kind of took that and road with it for the rest of my career."
Q: Who stood out to you on either side of the ball so far?
Chinn: "89, Brock [Bowers]. He's a special player. I think [Ashton] Jeanty's been running really well as well. Jakobi [Meyers] he runs really good routes, he challenges us. And Geno [Smith], sometimes he'll throw a ball and just be like, 'yeah, there's not too much you can do about that.''
Q: On the defensive side of the ball, is there a teammate that has caught your eye that you probably didn't know of before you came to Vegas and now that you're like, dang, he can ball?
Chinn: "I'm not going to say I didn't know of him, but I mean, E-Rob [Elandon Roberts]. He's helped our defense so far, a whole lot, just his confidence in the huddle and just his leadership, what's he's expecting of certain guys and in certain situations in practice. Isaiah Pol-Mao, he's been great as well. He's been very communicative, and he showed his leadership as well. So those are just two examples, but yeah, I mean, there's plenty more just around the defense as a whole Maxx Crosby, of course."
Q: Pete Carroll made it very clear when he got here that this is not a rebuild. They want to win now, right? And they want a quick turnaround. You saw that firsthand last year with your former team. Did that experience, to bring that to the table in this locker room, how important is that with you?
Chinn: "I mean, it's great because, like I said, I've seen it last season being in Washington. I mean, it's obviously, it's a different team, a different place, different situation, but like, I've seen what it takes to be able to just kind of have that immediate turnaround, and I think it starts with the guys in the locker room, and I truly believe we have the right people in our locker room."
Q: What did you see around this time last year with Washington that nobody else saw, you guys knew in the locker room, hey, it worked better than people think. Was there something you saw that's maybe similar here?
Chinn: "The veteran leadership for sure. You know guys like Maxx [Crosby], guys like, Elandon [Roberts], guys like myself. So just having guys, I really haven't seen, really on the offensive side of the ball, but just having guys like I just mentioned, I think it starts there."
Q: What do you think of Darien Porter so far?
Chinn: "He's been playing really well. He's got great technique. He's playing more confident, so it's cool to see. Every time you can see a young guy just kind of come in, out of college, and just feel like he understands it. It's pretty cool. I'm excited to see what he's going to bring to the table."
