Pete Carroll Gives Detailed Insight into State of the Raiders

Q: He had two touchdown catches on Sunday. How beneficial would it be to get him even more involved? 

Coach Carroll: "Yeah, as much as we can. We'd love to have him, because if you get him the ball in the perimeter like that, or even when you check it down to him, he's going to make somebody miss most of the time. And so, I think it's becoming more clear, our opponents will see it, and they'll try to take steps to keep that from happening, but it's a great asset, and we don't want to miss that. But we couldn't do everything all at once.

"Y'all want everything to happen at the same time, all at once. It just took us a little while, and I feel very good about the progress that we're making. I'm really excited about what happened up front, on both sides of the football, but with the running game and the pass protection last week, it just looks so much cleaner and sharper. It's just shows you that there's good fortune ahead, and so we're going to keep believing that way." 

Q: With a guy like Thomas Booker IV, who hasn't had a lot of tape or playing time, when you were looking at him before getting him, what were some things that stuck out to you? 

Coach Carroll: "He's really consistent and really firm technique-wise, didn't get knocked off the ball at all. Like you said, he hadn't had a lot of opportunities and hadn't had a lot of featured opportunities in passing down situations. They had some other stars on that team, so he couldn't get the opportunity. 

“But he's contributed in a huge way, and he's just as steady as a rock. And I don't know if you guys have had a chance to talk to him, but he's a beautiful kid, and he has a lot to offer all of us. And so again, I think we're just learning to appreciate it more. And he had a couple of really big plays in the game too, which was great."