Stanny
06-12-2008, 03:28 PM
Thursday Q&A with Coach Kiffin
June 12, 2008
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Raiders Head Coach Lane Kiffin chats with the media after Thursday's OTA at the team's Alameda, Calif., facility.
Tony Gonzales
The Oakland Raiders wrapped up Organized Team Activities for this week on Thursday. Raiders Head Coach Lane Kiffin spoke to the media immediately following practice at the team's Alameda, Calif., facility and discussed numerous topics.
Coach Kiffin: A couple things of note would be WR Ronald Curry back out there. It was good to have him out there, he looks fresh and healthy. We signed LB Grant Irons this morning to give him a chance and see if he can make the team, add more depth for us and more competition. [Irons] has worked extremely hard, really has worked hard for two years to have an opportunity and we worked him out yesterday and he is really in phenomenal shape for a guy who has not been in an NFL program, so we will give him a chance
Q: Has Curry been practicing all week?
Coach Kiffin: Yeah, he has. He looks good and fresh. We were on the safe side of having him out there, probably could have had him out there last week if we really wanted to push it. It’s working out well.
Q: Are you working him in slowly or is he doing everything?
Coach Kiffin: He is about doing half the stuff right now, he even did some team drills today but we don’t push him very much right now.
Q: What are the things that he is not doing? Does it look like he is making sharp cuts?
Coach Kiffin: I think if we needed to, we could push him to do everything right now; we need to be safe with it. In what he is doing, he looks really great at.
Q: How important is he to what you want to do on offense this year?
Coach Kiffin: Ronald is very important to us in terms of being a veteran receiver that knows our system extremely well. Last year he made some plays for us and going into the off-season, we had a number of meetings with him on how he can get better, where he can improve in this system. Physically, he is looking to improve his body as well. Even though he hasn’t been able to do a lot of lower body stuff, with his injury, he is working on his upper body and he looks stronger than he has been before.
Q: How is C Chris Morris? [We] didn’t see a lot of him today.
Coach Kiffin: He is out there. We are just giving C John Wade more reps and see how far he can take that this week and then we will re-evaluate it.
Q: It looked like LB Ricky Brown was playing with the first team. Is there anything special going on there?
Coach Kiffin: No there isn’t. Throughout practices there are a bunch of different units and that’s all. It goes with the theme of giving guys chances and competing, pushing the guys above them as well.
Q: Is Irons going to play defensive end or linebacker?
Coach Kiffin: Linebacker.
Q: Who have you been working out for punt returns and kickoffs?
Coach Kiffin: We’ve been looking at a number of guys and WR Johnnie Lee Higgins is the ideal guy for us, to have him improve on catching the ball and he is stronger and faster. We’ve had CB DeAngelo Hall back there as well. We’re really trying to make Johnnie Lee the guy and see how far he can go with it. We have a number of guys who are insurance policies.
Q: Is that for punts or for both?
Coach Kiffin: That’s for punts.
Q: And for kickoffs?
Coach Kiffin: For kickoffs, we’ve had RB Darren McFadden back there catching some and DB Tyvon Branch was a really good returner in college and he is doing well for us. We have a couple of rookies there and we have been working with CB Chris Johnson as well.
Q: After the conclusion of next week's OTAs, it’s going to be about five weeks until the start of training camp. What do you do as a coach and coaching staff and what are the players responsible for during this time?
Coach Kiffin: The rookies are around. We give them a little of time off and then they come back and we give them some time off and they come back. They are around and we are around with them at times. Most of the guys go off and train on their own somewhere because we can’t do much with them. It is a very crucial and critical month for them individually and it will make or break a lot of these guys. Just like last year you will see some guys get waived at the beginning of camp because they didn’t come back in the shape they needed to be in. Hopefully, that is not the case.
June 12, 2008
Printer friendlyEmail this storyIncrease font sizeDecrease font sizePrevious ArticlesRSS
Raiders Head Coach Lane Kiffin chats with the media after Thursday's OTA at the team's Alameda, Calif., facility.
Tony Gonzales
The Oakland Raiders wrapped up Organized Team Activities for this week on Thursday. Raiders Head Coach Lane Kiffin spoke to the media immediately following practice at the team's Alameda, Calif., facility and discussed numerous topics.
Coach Kiffin: A couple things of note would be WR Ronald Curry back out there. It was good to have him out there, he looks fresh and healthy. We signed LB Grant Irons this morning to give him a chance and see if he can make the team, add more depth for us and more competition. [Irons] has worked extremely hard, really has worked hard for two years to have an opportunity and we worked him out yesterday and he is really in phenomenal shape for a guy who has not been in an NFL program, so we will give him a chance
Q: Has Curry been practicing all week?
Coach Kiffin: Yeah, he has. He looks good and fresh. We were on the safe side of having him out there, probably could have had him out there last week if we really wanted to push it. It’s working out well.
Q: Are you working him in slowly or is he doing everything?
Coach Kiffin: He is about doing half the stuff right now, he even did some team drills today but we don’t push him very much right now.
Q: What are the things that he is not doing? Does it look like he is making sharp cuts?
Coach Kiffin: I think if we needed to, we could push him to do everything right now; we need to be safe with it. In what he is doing, he looks really great at.
Q: How important is he to what you want to do on offense this year?
Coach Kiffin: Ronald is very important to us in terms of being a veteran receiver that knows our system extremely well. Last year he made some plays for us and going into the off-season, we had a number of meetings with him on how he can get better, where he can improve in this system. Physically, he is looking to improve his body as well. Even though he hasn’t been able to do a lot of lower body stuff, with his injury, he is working on his upper body and he looks stronger than he has been before.
Q: How is C Chris Morris? [We] didn’t see a lot of him today.
Coach Kiffin: He is out there. We are just giving C John Wade more reps and see how far he can take that this week and then we will re-evaluate it.
Q: It looked like LB Ricky Brown was playing with the first team. Is there anything special going on there?
Coach Kiffin: No there isn’t. Throughout practices there are a bunch of different units and that’s all. It goes with the theme of giving guys chances and competing, pushing the guys above them as well.
Q: Is Irons going to play defensive end or linebacker?
Coach Kiffin: Linebacker.
Q: Who have you been working out for punt returns and kickoffs?
Coach Kiffin: We’ve been looking at a number of guys and WR Johnnie Lee Higgins is the ideal guy for us, to have him improve on catching the ball and he is stronger and faster. We’ve had CB DeAngelo Hall back there as well. We’re really trying to make Johnnie Lee the guy and see how far he can go with it. We have a number of guys who are insurance policies.
Q: Is that for punts or for both?
Coach Kiffin: That’s for punts.
Q: And for kickoffs?
Coach Kiffin: For kickoffs, we’ve had RB Darren McFadden back there catching some and DB Tyvon Branch was a really good returner in college and he is doing well for us. We have a couple of rookies there and we have been working with CB Chris Johnson as well.
Q: After the conclusion of next week's OTAs, it’s going to be about five weeks until the start of training camp. What do you do as a coach and coaching staff and what are the players responsible for during this time?
Coach Kiffin: The rookies are around. We give them a little of time off and then they come back and we give them some time off and they come back. They are around and we are around with them at times. Most of the guys go off and train on their own somewhere because we can’t do much with them. It is a very crucial and critical month for them individually and it will make or break a lot of these guys. Just like last year you will see some guys get waived at the beginning of camp because they didn’t come back in the shape they needed to be in. Hopefully, that is not the case.