LOS ANGELES CHARGERS vs. OAKLAND RAIDERS
POSTGAME TRANSCRIPTS
Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019 | ROKiT Field at Dignity Health Sports Park | Carson, Calif.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS HEAD COACH ANTHONY LYNN
Opening statement:
"Well, they dictated the pace of this game. They outplayed us. We lost too many one-on-ones and critical situations. We have to run the football. I didn't think we were able to run the football, which surprised me. We averaged five yards-per-carry on this team the last time we played them. We have to run the football when they know that we are going to run the football, and we did not get that done. The outcome is what it is, but I thought this team played hard, we just didn't play good enough."
On QB Philip Rivers' thumb:
"He finished the game with it. It was fine."
On getting the team ready for next week:
"We go back and we start over. You can't do anything about what's behind you, but you can do something about what's in front of you. We've got to prepare like men, and we've got to go out, compete and play like men."
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS QUARTERBACK PHILIP RIVERS
On his thumb:
"It's okay. I will be able to make it through.
"I don't know exactly how. It happened on that reverse. It was poor blocking on the reverse. I don't know exactly what happened, but that was in the first quarter. I was able to deal with it the rest of the way."
On the game:
"[It was] disappointing game. [We need to] go out re-group, go out next week at Kansas City and find a way to see if we can finish the year with a win in the division when we haven't won one this year. Tough day out there today. We were just not very complementary. The defense was lights out first half and we stunk it up until the last drive before the half. Then they scored inside two minutes. In the second half, it flipped. We were going pretty good and the [defense] couldn't get them stopped. We kept getting it back in the first half and it was just a matter if we could get going, and we couldn't. Second half, we had three possessions and we scored in two of them. It was just an all-around bad performance as a team."
On opposing fans:
"We have gotten used to it. What will be in years to come remains to be seen. It is tough. That doesn't have anything to do the outcome of the game. Being someone that remembers what it used to be like in home games, it is pretty bad. You appreciate the Chargers fans that are out there, but it is disheartening to say the least. I don't think all our guys understand that, but the guys who have been here a long time know what it used to be like."
On how the compensate the crowd noise:
"I don't think it is that extreme. We could probably battle through it and go into the cadence a little more. Again, it is just screaming as loud as you can. In some road stadiums we go into cadence every now and then. It is more of a preference to the guys up front and myself that we do it in some of those situations. Just so I am not so quiet that they have to strain to hear, so it better off eliminating that with a silent count."
On the timeout on fourth down:
"No it had nothing to do with crowd noise. It had nothing to do with any of that. We thought about trying to draw them off there and then call a timeout. We wanted to make sure, as [Head] Coach [Anthony Lynn] told me on the sideline, it was a huge play. We needed to get it [being] down 14 at that point. We needed to go for it. It was a critical play. It wasn't just call your play and go. We were going to draw them off. As the play clock got lower — and again with the crowd noise at that point, you probably weren't going to draw them off when they can't hear you that well. That works to your advantage when your inflection in voice can draw them off. That is why I decided to stay to in the huddle instead of try to scramble up there and draw them off. The timeout was not due to not being able to hear the play call. It was a decision based on making sure we were in the best play."
On using the silent count at home:
"I don't want to overstate that. There has been times where it was a necessity, but it is not all the time. Sometimes it is kind of on the borderline where, 'Do you want to go and can you not hear me?' There have been times where it was like that. I don't know it has been hit or miss. It is hard to recall. That is something you have to go back and check the tape."
On playing at Dignity Health Sports Park:
"It was unique, to say the least. I think, from a passer standpoint, the sidelines are good and all that. I may sound crazy, but certain fields you walk into and it looks like the back pylon is 200 yards away. Some fields you walk into and you go, 'Man, I feel like I can drop it right on that from here or anywhere without lines on the field.' From that standpoint it was solid. We had some energy in this place at different points. For me to recall exactly those, I don't know. We had some tough days managing the crowd, but as a player it is really not about that. It is about us playing better on the field. We did that some in the three years here in this building, but not very well this year. We haven't been able to play well this year anywhere in terms of winning football games."
On his ability at age 38:
"I think it's probably human nature, when you're 38 and you throw some interceptions and games don't go the way you want them to, [to think] that it can just become the norm. That's just what people say — you can't make the throws you used to make, you can't do this, arm strength, all of that. None of that's true. I've made some throws this year that have been as good as I've made in any year of my career. I'm not here to sell that. Physically, what I'm able to do is just what I was able to do last year when we were rolling, you know, and having one of our best years. Even in some of these games the last few weeks, we've had some really good plays, offensively. That doesn't mean that's good enough for someone who wants you to keep playing because you got to maintain that consistency throughout games and do enough to win football games, which we haven't done and I haven't done well enough this year. Am I capable of it, physically and mentally? There's no question."
On if he wants to play next season:
"Yes, I do want to play football."
On preparing for an NFL season:
"I say yes, I want to play football and I do. That's what I feel deep down as I stand right here. I still do. I think these are questions really for probably mid-January, you know. Let the dust settle a little bit. There are so many emotions you know, when you lose a game like that and you want to say, 'Yeah, where can we find some parking lot and play again.' You know what I mean? So some is that, and some of it is, you go, 'Shoot, I don't even want to see a football.' There're too many emotions at this point in the year when you're 5-10, so I think probably, I could better answer that in a few weeks. I do still feel physically capable and I do have the desire to prepare hard, as I have all year, and to try to lead this football team. I have one more week to do it in this season."
On the first quarter:
"We didn't have five punts last week, I don't think, in the whole game. We've gone a game or two this year where we've had less than five, so it was rough. In some ways they were a play ahead of us, maybe. From a standpoint, shoot they're trying to stop us, too. So, there were times, I say a play ahead of us just meaning, from a cover standpoint or whatever, they get us. They're trying to do well also and then just lack of execution. I mean we started with a false start, and then a penalty, and we just started off rather sloppy. I don't know that I can answer that perfectly accurately, standing here trying to recall those, but just a sloppy offensive start."
On if he can imagine playing for another franchise:
"I think again, we have to let the dust settle a little bit. Again, I am beyond thankful for the 16 years we've had here and I'm thankful, hopefully again to get one more shot in Kansas City. I think it's year-to-year, and again I don't know. I can't answer that. Again, I'd rather just stay right here for now."
On his future:
"Yeah, I think there's a lot of factors. Again, there's a personal side, a family side to mine as well. I mean, I'm going to have a daughter in college next fall, too. Time's ticking. Going to have a sixth-grade son that I have to get ready to coach him at some point before too long, also. There're all kinds of factors, but I know I can still do it. I know I can do it at a high enough level for us to win. I have not done it well enough this year, but I still do love to play and love to lead these guys, and I still believe in this team. It's been an array of things that have compounded to keep us from winning enough games to advance into the tournament. It's never fun when you get to this point of the season. Had we won this game, it still stinks because you have one week left and then you're going home.
"I don't know guys. Who knows? I've never been in this position, obviously. From a standpoint, I've never been 38 in this position. I've also never been in the position where I'm having a contract expiring. I don't know what it's like to wait around until March and free agency and all that stuff, as far as timeline goes. Again, the dust will settle, and we'll figure it out."
On the crowd:
"It's not ideal. It's definitely not ideal. Again, I think it's our job as players to control what happens between the lines and do a better job between the lines. We went 9-7 and just missed it in year one here, then went 12-4 last year and tried to make a little run in the postseason and this year hasn't been so good. It's definitely not ideal, but I do think that while we've gotten used to it, it affects every guy differently. I think that would be an excuse and a crutch for us to say that it's had an effect on our play, but it's certainly, again, not ideal. That's the best way I can say it."
On farewells:
"I just think it's a unique deal in the sense that there's still an unknown. I thought it was pretty special, what happened in New York, a few weeks ago or last week, with [Giants QB] Eli [Manning]. I even sent him a note to tell him how awesome I thought it was, but I think that situation was different. He's almost a year removed from this moment, I guess. He was coming back this year, and obviously with the draft and how that whole thing played out, man he handled it like a pro and the whole deal. I think, completely different situation and I just don't think I'm done playing. That part of it's not on my mind right now. I think it's more the disappointment of losing another game the way the season's going all the way around."
On his thumb:
"Yeah, I got it caught. I don't know exactly what went down on that reverse when I did a poor job of blocking on that reverse. I thought I was in good position, too, and it wasn't one of those deals where I felt like I could cut him. He was running straight at me, and me and [RB] Austin [Ekeler] just clashed. I thought he was closer to me that he was. So, when he dipped underneath me, I naturally reacted and stuck my hand out. So, I don't know what it hit, helmet, jersey or something, but we will be alright. It was the first quarter, but we threw pretty good after that."
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS DEFENSIVE END JOEY BOSA
On QB Philip Rivers:
"I know he has his off days, but people don't understand the value of having a guy like that adds to the team. Whatever decision the team makes, whatever decision he makes, we'll see."
On Rivers' leadership:
"I think he's great. I mean being an older guy with a family, I wouldn't expect him to be around the team and spend time with all the teammates. He's just one of the guys. He gets along with everybody. It's really cool to see. You'd expect him to come in and just go back home to his family. Even as a player, what is he top [six] in passing yards? He's a Hall of Famer."
On the season:
"Losing sucks. That's always frustrating, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I don't think losing now means we're going to be stuck in this hole forever. I think we've got talent. I think with a couple new pieces here and there. Maybe some less injuries at key points in the year."
On still feeling confident:
"If you look at the amount of injuries we've had and there's an amount of new guys. I have confidence in my guys, I have confidence in my coaches to bring in guys if they don't see guys doing enough. My answer is, I'm confident in my team."
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS LINEBACKER THOMAS DAVIS SR.
On how he would summarize the season so far:
"This season, to all of us, has definitely been a disappointment. You look at the record that we have and the talent that we have on this team. Like I said last week, we all know what happened. We started the season off with too many injuries at key positions. All and all, we still had an opportunity as a football team to come out with some victories just based on the score and how things went. We just came up short."
On positive takeaways from this game:
"There were some things. Once we watch the film, I'm pretty sure that we can find there were positives. But at the end of the day, this is a bad loss for our football team. We know it. We just have to be better. We have one more game to go out and compete and play hard and that's what we have to do."
On if the team is playing for pride in Week 17:
"No question. It's not like we can play to continue to stay in the playoff hunt or any of those kind of things. So we've just got to go out and just got to play for one another. We're going to be playing on the road. We just understand that we are all we have and we've just got to show up."
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS RUNNING BACK AUSTIN EKELER
On the running game:
"It was a tough day running the ball. They were getting in the right calls, slants, beating us one-on-one or our backs weren't seeing it right. I'm not sure yet, I have to go watch the film. For whatever reason, we were getting stuffed or even losing yards. It's hard to get your offense going when they make you one-dimensional because then they know what you are going to do and they can play you for it."
On playing in the new stadium:
"I'm definitely looking forward to playing in the new stadium. It's a new venue. I think anyone who plays there is probably going to be looking forward to it. We were here for three years. I can't say whether it was good or bad, it's just what we have to deal with. I'm here to play football. Wherever you tell me, that's where I'm going to play."
On QB Philip Rivers:
"I have no opinion on it. I don't know what's going to happen. I know I would like him to be my quarterback again. I think he's a great leader and he knows the game. He had a rough year this year as far as interceptions, but he's been playing a long time so he knows what he's doing and I feel like he can put that in the past, come back and start over again. Even last year when we were making that run, so if we get another chance to go again, even like he said, 'Nunc Coepi,' we begin again. I would love for him to be back."
On Rivers as a leader:
"Absolutely. No doubt. Why would you not? He's a veteran. He's been around the league and had a lot of success. I love playing with him out there on the field. He's a guy you know you can trust to run the offense and he puts us all in the right spot. I don't know who else I would want to play with."
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS RUNNING BACK MELVIN GORDON III
On QB Philip Rivers as a leader:
"He's a great leader. He is going to do what he needs to do. Win, lose or draw, he's the same guy. Good game, bad game, he's the same guy. He's going to motivate you. He's going to come out and be upset. He's a competitor. He's going to come to work. You couldn't ask for a better leader."
On the Raiders:
"They played with a little more heart. That's just what it was. You know, I thought it'd be different. I thought we were going to be the ones to come out with the fire and the passion and it was different. They hopped on us early. It was just the first half. We bounced back in the second half, but they just held the ball and kept it from us. So, that's just how it goes."
On scoring two touchdowns:
"I wouldn't say it was a strong game. They shut us down in the run game. We had 19 yards. That's not a good day. I got some touchdowns. [WR] Keenan [Allen] got called down at the one, but to say it was a strong game, is not it."
On changing the team's narrative:
"You do something about it. You go out and win. We just didn't get that done. Like I said, we just have to go and look in the mirror and ask ourselves, everyone. Every man that puts on a helmet, that puts in some type of work into this organization, 'Are you giving it everything?' We're going to bounce back because we have the team, we have the players, we have the staff. We have everyone around us to get it done."
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS TIGHT END HUNTER HENRY
On setting single-season career highs in receptions and receiving yards:
"There's a lot more for me I think. Obviously, I didn't playing the full season, missing four games. It's always good to improve on what I've done in the past, but I think I'm better than what I've showed and I'm looking forward to this offseason. Really trying to continue to improve my game, but it's always good to get better. Not getting worse, at least stats-wise. There's definitely some plays out there I wish I can have."
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS DEFENSIVE END MELVIN INGRAM III
On his motivation for next week's game at Kansas City:
"I'm playing football. I'm going out there and giving it my all. I'm just keeping it real."
On this season:
"It's definitely been frustrating. You come into it, you want to win. Then you don't win, it's definitely going to be frustrating, but you got to just stay level-headed. You've got to understand you still have to come out here and play football. No matter how it goes, good or bad. It's easy for everybody to be patting you on the back when you win, but when you lose, you have to be self-motivated. You have to come out here to play football."
On closing in on 50 career sacks:
"I don't even know. I'm just playing football, to be honest. I'm just trying to win. If we had 14 wins this year, then I'll tell you how I'm feeling."
OAKLAND RAIDERS HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN
Opening Statement:
"I have a lot of respect for the Chargers. Obviously, we came to have a rivalry and all that stuff. We lost a lot of players, we lost three defensive backs. I'm really proud of [WR] Hunter Renfrow, [RB] DeAndré Washington, they really studied the film and watched the game carefully. Their work ethic, [CB] Daryl Worley played four positions. A great win for us and I'm really happy the referees didn't screw up the clock again at the end of the game."
On if he knew the outcome of the Pittsburgh Steelers game:
"No. We just tried to win another game, get back on schedule. It was a great win for the team. We had a lot of men down coming in here, lost a lot more out there. We fought hard and I'm proud of them."
On CB Trayvon Mullen:
"He's at the hospital now being evaluated. The signs are pretty good, but I don't want to say too much. We're looking into that and I'll keep you posted. He's with our prayers."
On WR Hunter Renfrow:
"He's a good player. He's not only a natural receiver, he's a good punt returner, he's a great blocker. He's a good football player and we're happy we have him. He made a lot of hidden plays that not a lot of people know about. It's great to have him out there."
On the strong Raider fan turnout:
"It's great to see the fans, the Raider fans. I really appreciate them coming out. We had a tough stretch here in the last few weeks and we needed all the help we could get. It was cool to see them out there."
On taking control of the game in the second half:
"It was big. Taking time off the clock because of injuries that we have on defense. We don't want to see [Chargers QB Philip] Rivers all afternoon with those receivers. Great drive at the end of the half to start the third quarter. I believe it was a nine-minute or eight-minute drive. Converted third downs, balanced, on schedule and we overcame a rough start after some sacks and penalties. I think our guys rallied and played hard."
On their chance at making the playoffs:
"It's a great stride that we made. We have a lot of new players, rookies and players that we signed here in the last six weeks. We're doing everything we can to bring this franchise back. We have a long way to go, but today is an obvious step in the right direction. We're going to see the trainer to see who we have available next week. We lost a lot of guys."
On the young Riaders:
"[T] Kolton Miller, the Tight End [Darren] Waller, he might not have all of the catches but we were running the ball right behind him. Some of these newcomers that we have found in the past year or so are on track here. They are off to a good start. We will need a lot more from them next week."
On the Raiders defense:
"It was big. I think they had a couple penalties, a couple sacks like we did in the first quarter. Played a couple backs, a couple back up linemen. Continuity is a problem. Our defense came out and really played well for the most part, throughout the whole game. Our defense in the game while we were finding ourselves offensively was. A big part of our victory."
On the QB Derek Carr touchdown run:
"I think that was something that we were really looking for and excited about. He is a much better athlete than people know about and we have been trying to encourage him to do more of that. It was a bootleg designed for Waller and a fullback, LA did a nice job to cover it. That's what you need to be. You need to be a threat to run and that's what he did today. That was a big play for us."
On scoring a lot of points each time they played the Chargers:
"We've bene playing pretty good the last few weeks. We have managed to not finish the drives, but today we finished a couple drives and we got the receivers involved. That was the emphasis, let's try to get these guys involved other than [TE] Darren Waller. Getting [Hunter] Renfrow back was big. No disrespect, but he's a hard guy to replace. [TE] Foster Moreau, some of the things that we asked our guys to do, but we just played better today and finished the drives."
On where he sees the Raiders now versus a year ago:
"Yeah, I'm excited. There was a plan, believe it or not, but we still have a long way to go to prove that we can execute the plan. We felt like we had a long way to go with this roster. Offensive Tackles, Linebackers, Safeties, Corners, Kickers, Punters, Returners. We're collecting players and we're going to continue to do that with the resources that we have. We have. I think 5 picks next year in the top 90 and our guys are going to crush it. They're going to do a good job finishing more guys that are similar to the ones we have this year. That part is good, the coaching, I still have a long way to go to prove that I can do it at a good enough level."
On running nacks stepping up despite injuries:
"That's what great teams do. That's what great pro football teams, that's what the Raiders are supposed to do. They find a way. I've said it all along, the guys who can play good when they're not 100%, those are the guys you should give big contracts to, those are the guys you should pay a high priced ticket to see. [RB DeAndre] Washington and Jalen Richard stepping in there for [RB] Josh Jacobs, that was huge. I can't say enough about what [CB Daryl] Worley did today. He was out, didn't play last week, we asked him to move to Safety, all our Corners got hurt so we asked him to go play nickel, then our nickel got hurt and we said go play Corner. I'm really happy for these guys tonight."
On Renfrow's punt returns:
"Pretty good. I just worry about him. It's a tough job and we have a lot of things on his plate already. He gave us good field position and proved he can also do that."
On CB Keisean Nixon:
"He's a good rookie. He played good on special teams and return kickoffs. We will see [CB] Isaiah Johnson it looks like next week, so we're going to get a chance to see our entire rookie class. We have [G] Lester Cotton available today, he was active as a backup lineman. We have gone deep into the rookie class and hopefully our young players feel good about it."
On how much influence he has on General Manager Mike Mayock's decision making:
"I don't have influence. We work together, I know that. We work very hard together and that's something I really look forward to. I think it's essential to put a team together. To have a chance in this league, I think it's an essential thing. Organizations are split, in my opinion, and having that comradery and trust and work ethic and similar vision is really important."
On if he will let himself enjoy today:
"I enjoy it. It makes me really upset about the call last week, I'm not going to let that go. That call last week, I'm not saying it cost us the game, but it was really bad. You enjoy the wins. We have a schedule change this week. We're going to practice on Tuesday and give the players off on Christmas Day. We have to get back to work but I appreciate everything and Merry Christmas to all of you. Have a great holiday."
OAKLAND RAIDERS QUARTERBACK DEREK CARR
On both of their opening drives:
"Yeah. One-hundred percent. You know, we always talk about doubling up. Whenever you defer, the goal is to always get that last possession in the second half, score, get the ball, and score again — however you get points. We were able to do that and help our defense have a cushion. That changes — as we've talked about a lot — when the score is what it is it changes some calls they can make and some things they can try and some things they can do. It just helps the team. It was huge. Huge, huge, huge that we could get points on both of those drives, and we've talked about coming out in the second half better, and I think both times we came out in the second half the first two drives were points, and then we were four and four a minute after that, which was awesome."
On WR Hunter Renfroe 100+ yard performance:
"Yeah. That's what he told me. I said 'Wow. I thought you were the best receiver at Clemson. I'm sure you would have had a couple more than that.' We have a lot of fun. He's one of my best friends. We spend a lot of time together. We're very close. Played a lot of games together. All those kind of things, but we also work very very hard at what we do. We're always in communication. Today — something that we worked on — the play he got hurt on is the same play he converted the third down for us on. Not the same play. Same kind of look, same kind of deal, and just minor tweaks here and there — him and I just getting better together. We were able to catch the ball and just get the first. Those are huge things, but obviously the chemistry is there. There's no denying that."
On WR Hunter Renfroe's 56-yard touchdown:
"It's so funny. You don't see it a lot in the NFL — guys that catch it across the middle, and they outrun some people. Out of all people, he's the one who always seems to do it. I met Coach Sweeney — Dabo Sweeney — he was in New York. I met him and he just laughed. He's like 'You don't understand sometimes some of the things he does. He just continues to impress you and continues to do it.' I'd have to say Coach Sweeney is right on that."
On his touchdown:
"It was a great call. Great design, and when I came around the corner — obviously I went through my progression — I was like 'Oh, shoot. I can run it in.' So, I just took off and waited if 33 [Derwin James] came for me I'd dump it over the top, and if not, I ran it in. I would like to think that I, as an NFL quarterback, was placing the ball to someone directly so I don't get fined, but I saw someone up there and I hit where I wanted to hit. Hopefully that helps."
On still being alive for a possible playoff berth:
"We're in the middle of our process."
On what was going through his mind as he ran the ball in for a touchdown:
"Yes! Honestly, I don't want what went through my mind to get out there and for coach to read it. Let's just say the thought was to protect the football and make sure we were in. I had a crazy thought, which maybe I'll share with you another time. It was good."
On what makes WR Hunter Renfroe so hard to stop:
"Teams give us certain looks, and coach does a great job of designing plays for different looks where today those balls just happen to go to him. If it's a different coverage the ball would go to [Darren] Waller or the ball would go to Tyrell [Williams], Zay [Jones]. Just the way coach does this offense and the more reps you get at it you can find it quicker. If that makes sense. I can get through the progressions faster this year, and things like that. It's funny. He'll get a whole bunch of catches on third down and teams will be like we have to stop him, and then the ball goes somewhere else and they're like but we stopped him. It's because of the way coach designs these plays. It's awesome."
On rallying for a possible playoff spot despite what they've been through:
"I really hope that the message — and I mean this with everything in me. I don't say these things a lot, but I really hope the message is that's the culture we have now. Everything we've been through, let's not sugar coat it. We've been through a lot of crap, and it is what it is. Nobody cares at the end of the day, but we have, and to say that we're still playing Week 17 for something is–that's unbelievable. That's really a good thing because I've been on teams in the past where we've been in those moments where we lose a couple games in a row and we're like oh no. This team never did that. To come here and beat these guys twice this year — that's not easy. They had their full defense out there. They're completely healthy, and our guys are still being able to make plays and do things like that. I hope that's the message. Really what we've been through and what our team has been able to accomplish. No one thought we could do that. Let's be honest. No one thought we'd play Week 17 for the playoffs. Let's just keep it real."
On how WR Darren Waller's development has affected the team:
"From the first day that I threw him the ball and I threw it ten yards behind him, I thought "That's not a tight end. Tight ends don't run that fast." The way that he's not just an uberly talented guy, because there's a lot of those in the NFL. He's our hardest worker, on the practice field, he consistently has the best practice habits of anybody that I've ever seen and it's every day. Every time him and I do a drill to start practice together to make sure our chemistry and fundamentals are right and after I few weeks I said, "I'm going to stop reminding him but he still showed up." I've done that before and that doesn't always work but he shows up every time. I didn't need to tell him anymore because that's what we do. Coach has done a great job of laying the foundation of the culture of the team and that's how we do things. Again, to be where we are at, a lot of that is in credit to Darren Waller.
On RB Jalen Richard and S Lamarcus Joyner's impact on the game today:
"I always say that we have three starting running backs. Even when Marshawn [Lynch] was here, we had DeAndre [Washington] and Jalen [Richard] so we still had three starting running backs. We saw Jalen also punch it up the inside, he can do all of those things. Same thing with DeAndre, the way DeAndre ran today against that defense, how physical he ran, he didn't cough the ball up and things like that. There were a couple times too where I've seen hits coming from the side, from the blindsides and usually those are easy fumbles and DeAndre is so strong so that thing did not come out. I love those guys more so for what they do in pass protection but they are really good at what they do."
On the influence of the crowd today:
"Everyone kept saying last week was our last home game and I said 'Y'all know we go to LA next week, right?' We didn't use the silent count, we didn't practice the silent count all week, every time we head down here our fans are just awesome."
On his touchdown run:
"I turned it up to fourth gear, I still have some more in me. There are still some more gears in me."
On what the key was to scoring the most points since the last time they played the Chargers:
"I promise you when we look at the film, it is in the details of the assignments. That is what makes the New England teams look so special is the details of the assignments. The details of the assignments were better than they have been in weeks past."
On how good it felt to win here with the crowd:
"We talked about it. We know how our fans get. One week they love you and then the next week if we lose, they are still family but they are mad at you. But you are always family and we talked about this week being another home game and giving them something to cheer about - let's really give them something to be excited about, especially the way last game ended. We had it in the bag and things happen and we lost the game but we had a lot of those fans, this was a home game — full of black shirts and black jerseys and we gave them a good send off. We knew a lot of those people were going to be at this game so we wanted to make sure that this week, we really took care of business for them. I still went over the black hole and they are booing everybody and yelling at me but it's all love. I love Raider Nation and there's nothing like it."
OAKLAND RAIDERS DEFENSIVE END MAXX CROSBY
On the possibility of going to playoffs:
"It's crazy. We have to take care of next week. Go out there and get a win in Denver. That's all that we can control, but that's crazy that were still alive. It's another game we have to win, but we're excited."
OAKLAND RAIDERS WIDE RECEIVER HUNTER RENFROW
On meeting up with Chargers WR Mike Williams after the game:
"We're so busy with our season right now that we haven't really talked much. There is kind of a common understanding. We've played Ohio State and Arizona before, all of us have. We're all just super excited about getting to watch the [college football playoff] game."
On the importance of his opening drive touchdown:
"It was big because we needed it to get things going. I just try to go out there and be available. You get the base hits, base hits, base hits, base hits — then you get a home run. We weren't really swinging for the fences, but it worked out."
On how some other Raiders rookies performed:
"I mean it's unbelievable. It was a win by committee. We had so many guys go down. We had so many guys injured. This one was special because it took the whole team — literally all 46 of us, or 47 — however many we dress. So it was a great one."
On if he has seen a glimpse of what the team can do:
"I mean I can't believe we're still in it. I'm thrilled. It's unbelievable, really, if you think about it. We were talking before. We don't have a great chance, but we have a chance. It's kind of like playing poker when you have the pocket ace. We're excited and it means nothing if we don't go and take care of business next week against [the] Denver [Broncos]."
On having his first-ever 100-yard game:
"They told me on the sideline. Never in high school, or college. This is my first 100-yard game in my life. Usually I had like 96, but I'd never get over the hump. It was good, and it was good because we needed it to win."
On scoring another touchdown before the end of the first half:
"That was huge. We had a chance to double-up. I think it was huge because we had a fourth down and one, and you could see [Defensive Coordinator] Coach [Paul] Guenther come over and say, 'Lets go for this. We're going to stop them.' That just gave us all the confidence in the world to be able to go score and double it up."
OAKLAND RAIDERS RUNNING BACK DeANDRÉ WASHINGTON
On breaking off 13-yard run on third-and-10 to seal the victory:
"Man, I thank the Lord, you know what I'm saying? The [offensive] line did a hell of a job. Shout out to the defense. We knew we did not want to give [the Chargers] the ball back, so I was just trying to do everything I could to make sure that wasn't the case. Thank God we were able to make that happen."
On how he felt crossing the first down line:
"It is a great feeling. I feel like that was a home game for us, so to do that in front of the home crowd — that was a good feeling."
On how he feels about the possibility of a playoff run:
"It is a crazy, crazy league. No matter what happens, you know that you have to show up every week. We were able to get a win this week and keep ourselves in it, so we'll see what happens."
On the two-minute scoring drive to end the first half and nine-minute scoring drive to start the second half:
"I think that was the real changing point for us. That two-minute drive before, and then to come back and knock some time off the clock [in the second half] — that set the tone. We were able to carry that momentum through."
OAKLAND RAIDERS WIDE RECEIVER TYRELL WILLIAMS
On playing against former team:
"It's awesome to be under the bright lights playing against a lot of friends."
On being in the playoff hunt:
"It's about going week-to-week. We wanted to get this win and other division wins to give us momentum into next year. If it puts us also into the playoffs, that'll be awesome."
