LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The Las Vegas Raiders are looking to jumpstart their offense against the Miami Dolphins. That being said, it is the Dolphins' offense that the Raiders need to be mindful of.
Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham spoke about the Dolphins and more on Thursday, and we have the full video right here:
Below is a partial transcript of Graham's media availability:
Q: What did the bye week afford you time to do, like self-scouting, looking back? How do you spend that in terms of preparing for the second half of the season?
Coach Graham: "Definitely a chance to self-scout, see where we're at in terms of tendencies, try to break those tendencies as you move forward. But more importantly, it's just a review. It's a chance to do a report card on the fundamentals, where we at fundamentally as we move into November, because that's the main thing that's going to drive the engine as we go forward. So, whether it's tackling, block instruction, pass defense, our leverage and coverage, so a lot of stuff to be able to review that, be able to give the guys good feedback where we're at in terms of what we're doing well, what we're doing poorly, what we need to take out. That's one thing that we do as coaches, so that's the main emphasis there. And then obviously a chance to reset. Everybody gets a little break, if you can break away from football during football season, it's tough for all of us, players and coaches included, but it's a chance to reset and spend some time with family."
Q: Obviously, it's a completely different season, but a lot of their offense is still in place. Is there anything that you can take from last year, looking at that film, and apply to this game?
Coach Graham: "Absolutely, the main thing that stands out, the continuity they have when Tua [Tagovailoa] is in there at the quarterback position, the ball gets out so fast. He's a quick decision maker in terms of the passing game. But like I've told you before, when I see these younger quarterbacks develop, it's the decisions they make in the run game that impresses me the most. Going back to when I first got in the league, I was always impressed with the elite quarterbacks that we were facing, whether in practice with [Tom] Brady, seeing Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers; it's the decisions they make in the run game that are some of the stuff that get overlooked. And you can see that he's doing a good job with that. Obviously, you take some stuff from the game and try to apply it. You try to take away some things schematically, see if it's still applicable for us this year. But the main thing is to be able to go down there to South Florida and play a certain way, make it look and sound the right way. Have a to-do list in terms of how we have to play the game and making sure that we're clear with the players and the coaches, from my standpoint as the coordinator, of what I deem we need to do to win the game."
Q: With just how fast the Dolphins are as a team, do you think physicality is going to be a huge emphasis for you?
Coach Graham: "One, you've got to find a way to match up with their speed, whether it's staying on top, or you can run with them, you've got to figure out a way. It's true speed out there on the field at a number of positions. And then physicality, one thing Flo [Brian Flores] used to always say, 'We can't ever forget about the physicality of this game.' I don't care how fast it looks, whether it's run and shoot, whatever they want to call the different offenses, NFL football is a physical game, especially as you start to move into November. And we're starting to ramp up to after Thanksgiving and you can't ever forget the physicality of the game."
