Las Vegas Raiders Brandon Bolden Having a Great Camp

Running Back Brandon Bolden

Q: With the reports of Kenyan Drake getting released, it kind of speaks to the competitiveness of the group. What have you seen throughout training camp among the running backs?

Brandon Bolden: “The NFL is a business at the end of the day, and it’s tough to see that headline with anybody's name in it. This room, this competition it's making all of us better. I even speak for KD [Kenyan Drake] on that one. I know it made him better as a player too. We push each other, we try to learn from each other, not only to be better football players, but better men, fathers, brothers, whatever it may be. But that’s the nature of the game.”

Q: What are the biggest things you want to see these next two days with the Patriots?

Bolden: “Football, I mean that's what we signed up for. It's great to get in and practice against each other, thud each other up, get a feel for your teammates and stuff like that. When you have opportunities like this to go out and call it a practice game against another team, that's invaluable work that you can't get working with a guy that’s on the same team as you.”

Q: How was getting to talk with some former teammates on the Patriots today?

Bolden: “It was great seeing those guys. I stayed in touch with a lot of them anyway, but it was great to see them in person. I was just telling the younger guys, a lot of those guys I saw come into the league and that was years ago. We practically grew up together. So, for a lot of those guys it was not only just former teammates, it’s like family to me.”

Q: As a former Patriot and a veteran, did you have a voice in making sure the team understood that there would be no fighting during the joint practice?

Bolden: “No. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not the guy to get in front of anybody and say anything. I kind of just lead by example. The guys were just taking the cues from the vets, and I would say it was great leadership on both sides. They did a great job of making sure nothing happened as well. We kind of just went out there and everybody just did business as business was being done. I'm proud of my teammates and former teammates as well, everybody going out and trying to get some good work that they allowed us to get.”

Q: Did you get a chance to reach out to James White after his retirement announcement? What did that relationship mean to you over the years?

Bolden: “Like I said, James is not a former teammate, James is not just someone I shared a room with, James White is like my little brother. I remember when he first came in and he was worried about getting cut. To now see him have such a successful career and how he went out on top the way that he did, I’m very proud of him. I love him to death, him and his wife Diana and his kids. Shoutout to him, I love James to death, but I kind of knew about it before everybody else because like I said, he’s like my little brother to me. We still have our group chat from 2015 with me, LeGarrette Blount and Dion Lewis. We’re still tight in that aspect, so we kind of already had a heads up. We were able to say our peace before his phone blew up and he couldn’t answer any of us.”

Q: How would you compare Josh [McDaniels] the head coach versus Josh [McDaniels] the offensive coordinator?

Bolden: “I said this earlier, it’s just like your parents leaving the house and your older brother is kind of babysitting. That's kind of how it has been. Me and Josh have been together for a long time, and to just see him go from an offensive coordinator just calling plays just tending to one side of the ball to now seeing him stand in front of the whole team and address both sides, for me it's still kind of surreal. In my mind I’m like, 'Josh you have no idea what defense is talking about,' But he's doing a great job. I love it for him, and I'm super proud of him as well. Like I said, he's one of the other people that we all grew up in this system together, so it's been cool.”

Q: When you see the connection with Derek [Carr] and Davante [Adams], do you give yourself time to think about what this offense is capable of this year?

Bolden: “That’s every day since we started, just seeing how we're all starting to mesh together, how well we do complement each other in the run game, pass game. Just from the team aspect to see how all three units go all together has been a site to see, and something as an older player you like to see the young guys get with it to see how fast we're moving along. It's been great to see.”

Q: You had a chance to see Rhamondre [Stevenson] in his freshmen year. Coming back to Las Vegas, he's going to get to play in front of local fans. What do you see about him and why is he a special kid?

Bolden: “Rhamondre is a special football player. I really never thought about that. I loved him last year. Like I said, (he’s) like my little brother, we talked earlier, but you kind of have to ask him those questions because I’m going to be a football fan regardless of him anyway, any of those guys. As far as all that, I have no idea.”