Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable touched on a few topics on Wednesday, as training camp is about to begin. Here are some excerpts from his media session:
On the ‘intense’ teaching:
Cable: Well, last year I kind of described it as, if you’re looking at ‘em all as rookies or guys new to it, it’s just to start over. It’s just to kind of wipe the slate clean. We had a good offseason, obviously, put some good things in our football team in terms of personnel and all that. We’ve got a new offensive coordinator and some new things on defense, special teams. They’ve had it once already. We just want to start over teaching again from A, and work through to Z, and I think once we get through the situation, everything that’s planned over the next four days, it’ll allow us to hit it running Monday when we put pads on and go to work.
On the positive vibe and optimism:
Cable: I think you’ll find that out as you talk to the players yourself. That’s what today will be about for a good number of them. For me personally, there’s a lot of excitement but there’s also a lot of caution in that there’s a lot of work to do. I know we’re going to be a good team, and I’m not afraid to say that, and we’re going to go after the AFC West. I’m not afraid to say that. I believe that that’s what we’re going to do. It’s not anybody’s. If they picked someone for it already, that’s too bad. It doesn’t work like that. You’ve got to play the games. This team will be ready to do that.”
On Jason Campbell:
Cable: I’m excited about Jason, and while we’re at it, right now Jason is the starter. He’s come here today, or yesterday, like everybody else, and he’s going to go out in the first huddle and he’s going to do that. The first thing people are going to want to ask is, ‘Where is Bruce and the other guys fit in terms of competition and all that?’ Bruce hasn’t done anything for the last three months. He’ll catch up and he’ll get himself up to speed and he’ll go out and battle and all that. But as we move forward tomorrow morning and go to practice the first time, Jason will be in that first huddle.
I think there’s a lot of things. To me, I think his professionalism, first of all. I think his leadership. You don’t have to be a boisterous, outgoing, run-your-mouth kind of guy to be a great leader, and I think he’s even showed some of that already, just this morning in some earlier things that went on, what he’s capable that way. So actually those two
things, a guy guy’s are going to look up to and a guy who brings great professionalism to it. He loves it. It’s important to him. It was interesting talking to those guys last night after they got checked in, just how that whole group of quarterbacks — Paul (Hackett has) done such a great job with them – they’re so much further ahead and prepared right now than we’ve been. It’s a tribute to all those guys, and it starts with Jason.
On how the offense will look in 2010:
Cable: There will be some different things. It will all sort itself out when we get into regular season, and you really get to see us. I hope that we continue to run the football. That’s something that we brought here and has been developed here in the past few years. What we have to do is have a better, more productive passing game. And that’s where you’ll see the greatest difference.
On Richard Seymour:
Cable: Just the way you said it and the way it was reported, him getting off the bus first and all those things, it says exactly what it is. You’re talking about not only a guy who has had a tremendous professional football career but you’re talking about a great person, a guy that has some priorities that are important to him. One of them is being a good teammate. One of them is leading the young men that were just drafted. His choice to come on that particular bus with that particular group of guys speaks volumes. You mention that person getting that franchise tag, you work to try and get a deal, or not get a deal, if it’s going to be possible, he never once blinked. He never said, ‘You know, Tom, this is really bugging me, I don’t think I want to do it, I’m not going to be there.’ Never once. When I talked to him the whole time ‘However this works out, I’ll be there Day 1 ready to go.’ ”
On Greg Biekert:
Cable: “We just felt like … some of this is … you all know I have a passion for the history of the Raiders and for trying to keep connecting to them. One of the last really good teams that was here, obviously Greg was a part of that two-year span there. Just bringing him here, he’s a guy that I’ve gotten to know a little bit. His coming here helps us a couple of ways. It connects us back to what the Raiders have been, and it’s a guy who’s passionate, loves football and loves the Raiders. I just felt like we needed to get another coach on defense and that’s what we’ve done.
“When you break it down, that is the true benefit. Not just Rolando, think about the mentality of where we’re trying to go defensively. You got to stop the damn run. So, you think about Greg Biekert, he plays at the University of Colorado, plays under Bill McCartney. I was a part of that program after he played, so I know what that legacy is and what that’s about, the toughness that you get coming out of that program. Then he comes here, he’s a seventh-round draft pick and really enjoys a tremendous career. But he was known for one thing: he played middle linebacker and, by God, he’s going to smash your face. That’s what he did. That mentality and his experience at doing that will bode well for our defense.
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Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist
Here are some highlights of the Oakland Raiders training camp session on Friday:
