What The Raiders Said Following Their Preseason Game Against The Seahawks

RAIDERS HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN (Thoughts on the game…) “I’m really proud of our team. Obviously a lot of backups played most of the preseason. It’s always fun to win.” (Thoughts on the backup quarterback situation…) “Obviously E.J. did well. Conor came in and made a nice throw. We will take a look at the tape and see what happens in the next couple of days. I was really pleased with the way E.J. came in here tonight. He was a captain. I thought he asserted himself, threw the ball well and moved the team.” (Thoughts on some individual players…) “We are forced into some tough decisions. Keon Hatcher, what can you say about that kid? He is a great story. He put himself in a position to make this team not only as a receiver but also as a special team’s performer. So there are some guys we are really proud of. I’m a little emotional up here because it’s going to be tough tomorrow to say goodbye to some of these guys.” (Are you happy with the progress your team has made since the start of camp…) “How do we all know? You look at four games, how much have you really seen Derek Carr play? Really, how much have you seen the number one defense play? I’m watching the Rams today, they didn’t play one player the whole preseason. So that’s what I’m looking at, coming out of training camp healthy, coming out of the training camp with a few wins is always nice but coming out of training camp feeling healthy, feeling like you know what, we have seen some guys develop. Young players, we are proud of our draft class. I thought our draft class did well. That’s all we can do is develop the guys that are playing. We see the guys that you don’t see. So I like where we’re going but we have a long way to go. I do like the direction that were headed.” QB EJ MANUEL (On what he hoped to show with his opportunity to play tonight…) “My biggest thing was just to have a clean game. Show leadership. Get guys in the right positons. Obviously, during the week practicing for this game the starters were on a whole other field. I felt like as the older quarterback of the group, I felt like it was on me to get guys in the right mindset to make sure that we were still ready to play. Even because this is the fourth preseason game, you can either go one of two ways. You can go and not care about it, or you can actually take advantage of it and try to put a cap on a hard and great training camp. I am very excited about how we played tonight, and hats off to my teammates. O-line played a great game. I felt like they picked up all the protections stuff that we had worked on during the week. Obviously, the young receivers lit up tonight, too, so I was really happy about that. Chris Warren always plays good, so overall it was a good performance on offense.” (On how important protecting the football was in this game…) “It’s huge. No question. I’ve never had fumble issues in my life, literally back to little league. That’s football, it humbles you, man. It’s one of things were obviously you address it, you don’t want it to happen. I did take off tonight and I was happy to get tackled and still hold on to the ball.” (On if he could tell that he had a good feel for the passing rhythm…) “Yeah, in warm-ups I felt good. I was just excited to play, and honestly, excited to start. It’s a big difference when you start a game versus coming off the bench when you’ve been standing there for an hour and a half, so it’s a little harder to do that, but as a backup that’s what you have to prepare to do.” (On if he feels like he put his best foot forward throughout this preseason…) “You’re always judged by games at the end of the day. As a quarterback you’re judged by wins and losses, too. Whether I play a half, a quarter, a whole game – whatever – I just want to put my best foot forward. The biggest thing is showing leadership. I feel like you have to rally some of those younger guys because this is my sixth year. I’ve done this a bunch. Some of those other guys, this is their first season, first preseason ever. So I can only imagine the nerves that I had as a rookie or a second-year player so I think it gives those guys more confidence when they look you in the eye and know that you’re ready to go and counting on them to help you do your job.” WR KEON HATCHER (On the last time he scored three touchdowns in one game…) “High school, man. High school was the last time I had three of them. It felt good, felt real good. Blessed.” (On if he knew or did not know he had touched the ground during his first touchdown…) “It just happened. I didn’t feel my body touch the ground, so I just got up and, you know, kept going. The play, I guess, I don’t know, just happened.” (On the importance of a game such as this to someone such as him hoping to make the team…) “It’s very important. Like what you said, just to show what you’ve got, show what you can do, show the other 31 teams what you’re capable of, just go out there and put it all on tape. I felt like I had a pretty good outing. Hopefully people saw some things they like. Shoot, hopefully I’m here or on a team somewhere.” (On how E.J. threw the ball tonight…) “He threw the ball really well. He had a really good game. I’m excited for him.” WR MARCELL ATEMAN (On how he would assess his first training camp…) “It was a great experience, just because it’s my first year, and I’m new. There are a lot of veteran guys in the room. So I was just planning to go out there and, first, compete. Learn from those veteran guys. Jordy (Nelson) taught me a lot. Just soaking up everything and playing hard.” (On what he learned…) “From Jordy, one thing he told me that stuck with me is find a schedule. Find a routine, keep a routine every day. I thought that was really good because it helped me keep my body right, helped me mentally prepare.” (On if he feels pressure about the team…) “I don’t think there’s any pressure, because I go out there do what I have to do and make plays, compete. Show them that I can play at this level. If it’s not here, it’s somewhere else.” (On if he foresees himself playing on an NFL roster in 2018…) “It’s not my decision. God willing, wherever it happens. I hope it’s here. But whatever God’s got planned for me, it will be somewhere. Our fan base here is great. Oklahoma State was a great atmosphere, but the NFL is just different.” DE FADOL BROWN (On how he would assess the defense’s play tonight…) “I saw a lot of guys flying around, and that’s a contagious thing. We all just try to feed off each other, try to bring as much to the table as we can.” (On if he feels he left it all out there in an effort to earn a roster spot…) “There ain’t really no pressure on me when it comes down to 53. I don’t really think about none of that. I just go out every day and lay it all on the line for my teammates and I just leave it to the coaches to make those decisions.”

What The Raiders Said Following Their Preseason Game Against The Seahawks

Postgame quotes from the Oakland Raiders following their preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field.