Complete Racap of Raiders vs. Cardinals Offers Intriguing Storylines

With Aidan O'Connell being lost tonight due to a fractured wrist, expected to sideline him for 6-8 weeks, the defeat to the Cardinals quickly becomes less significant as the team focuses on the future.

Our latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast provides a complete recap of the loss against the Arizona Cardinals and explores several intriguing storylines.

You Can Watch the Entire Podcast Below

Tonight was not the result Pete Carroll wanted, but that doesn’t mean the team didn’t get plenty of good information.

Earlier this week, Pete spoke about his team after practice.

We have a partial transcript of that below.

Head Coach Pete Carroll

Q: Has it been your experience when it came time to make your cuts and get your roster finalized, that you found a way to break the news to guys who really worked hard at camp but just simply there wasn't room for them?

Coach Carroll: "No, I haven't found in all of the times we've had to face that, I haven't found really the right way to do it other than just tell them exactly what you feel. And it's not always what they want to hear, but I try to come as clear to them as I can. Tell them exactly what took place and why and give them good reason, because I know as soon as they walk out that door, their mind is going a million miles an hour, and they're trying to figure out why, what can I do, what's next and what's going on, and I feel for every one of them.”

“And so just tell them straight up, what the situation was, what the opportunities are, because they never over. Guys come back to us all the time. And so there is always to me, there's always a positive look at it. It's not like see you later forever. That's not how we talk. These guys are in this meeting room right here, they deserve to be part of this club.”

“They have given everything they've got. I love the way that they've fought through, maybe their old habits, old ways, to join us and be part of the mentality that we're standing for here, and they feel like they're our guys. So when we have to do that, I'm going to try to open the avenue so that they have a sense of how they could wind up coming back to us. And it happens all the time, so we'll see."

Q: How do you feel about the level of competition?

Coach Carroll: "Yeah, we've been battling. We've been battling. It's every day. They understand that they're trying to make it hard on the guy across from them just about to the point, Lonnie Johnson said in one of our meetings, when we were talking about competing, he's talking about, I'm trying to piss you off. I'm trying to make you pissed off at me.”

“He's talking about pushing so hard that it's uncomfortable for the guys across from and then you got to deal with it. And how do you respond? Do you go throw a punch, or do you kick somebody or hit somebody? Or do you take it to heart, and you take it as the challenge. We're trying to push it to the edge and everything we're doing. And so I feel really good about the level of competition."

Q: You mentioned the communication between the safeties and the corners and the linebackers. Are you seeing that evolve this week? Have you been practicing on that this week as well?

Coach Carroll: "It's a really big deal. We've had some stumbles along the way, but it hasn't been something that's consistently showing up. We missed a call here, we blew a look one time or another here, we had the big touchdown play against Seattle, we totally screwed that up in the huddle and from at the line of scrimmage.”

“Just gave him a touchdown. But it is not like pervasive. We don't have any problems with it. We just need to keep doing it. And the conversation that they have back there gives the guy next to them confidence that he right and he doesn't have to be second thinking, am I right? Am I doing the right thing? What am I supposed to be doing here? That's what the communication allows us to get to that confidence level so we can execute really well."

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