Notable quotes from Jack Del Rio and other members of the Oakland Raiders, following the win in Week 4 against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Raiders are getting good at this 1:00pm road thing, winning their third in a row to start the season, with a dramatic 28-27 victory over the Ravens.
As always, players and coaches had a lot to say after the game. The theme of the early season has been perseverance, love, and trust in each other. Those focal points remain, but as the team gets more acclimated to winning, their focus shifts more on what happened in the game and who made the differences.
That was certainly the case after their victory in Baltimore, and the three players routinely receiving the most praise were Derek Carr, rookie Cory James and of course, the Raiders early-season hero, King Crab himself.
This was a total team win though, and coach Jack Del Rio acknowledged as much in his presser yesterday.
"“That’s exactly what we’re talking about, all three phases playing complimentary football, impacting the game, and it’s about us and our team, and what we’re able to do when those three phases work together like that. That’s a great example of it.”"
Let’s take a look at some other notable quotes following the Week 4 win.
Marquette King and Bill Musgrave
One of those phases was special teams, where rookie lightning bolt Jalen Richard had a 47-yard punt return. But the real star of the day was punter Marquette King, who’s every bit as entertaining as he is good. And he’s DAMN good:
Best. Game. Ever. Well, according to PFF, but I mean it wasn’t far off.
The punting was incredible, but it was the dances that made the day. King invoked Ray Lewis — on the Ravens logo no less — and the squirrel dance; dabbed like Cam; flexed like Hercules; and payed tribute to former Raider Justin Tuck with his “Namaste” gestures to each corner of the stadium.
Of course, it’s all well and good when it follows kicks that pin the opponent inside the 20 four times on an average of 51.8 yards per punt with a whopping 46.5 yards net. Del Rio said as much.
"“It’s 2016, you know, there’s new ways of celebrating,” the coach said with a laugh when asked about King’s dancing. “I like guys to be themselves. He certainly is an expressive young man. When you kick it like that, well, you can have a little fun out there as well.”"
Del Rio also had nothing but love for his often maligned offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave. Musgrave has embraced the versatility of the talent on this offense and has finally begun calling games accordingly. You cannot argue with the Raiders’ success in the red zone, and Del Rio gives Musgrave all the credit.
"“The reality is he’s called a good game,” Del Rio said of Musgrave. “He’s done a nice job down there putting us in position, putting Derek in position to do the things he does well. You have to give credit to the design of it and then you have to give credit to the execution of it, and that starts with the trigger man.”"
And Del Rio’s praise didn’t stop there.
"“That’s why when you have a good trigger man, “ Del Rio added, “it makes a lot of things kind of go smoothly.”"