Interim Head Coach Mike Kafka
KAFKA: Just for practice, just so you guys know for practice, so (tight end) Theo (Johnson), he’s got a little sickness, we’re holding him out today. (Defensive lineman) D.J. (Davidson), (safety Tyler) Nubin, (tackle Andrew Thomas) AT, those guys are all out. Everyone else will get some work today.
Q: So, (offensive lineman Marcus) Mbow is left tackle then?
KAFKA: If (Andrew Thomas) can’t go for the game.
Q: Oh, you’re saying he’s out today?
KAFKA: He’s out today, yeah, he’s out for today.
Q: Will you give him a chance for the game at this point?
KAFKA: Yeah, absolutely. Andrew Thomas.
KAFKA: Yeah, we’ll see how it feels today and evaluate the next couple days.
Q: What have you seen from Mbow in whatever practice this week, the game the other day? Just really all season as a guy who has kind of been thrust into the situation a couple times.
KAFKA: Yeah, he’s had a couple starts already and he’s done a really nice job. And just stepping in, he’s always dialed into his opportunities and the game plan. So, I expect nothing different if he has to step up.
Q: When you were scouting him there was always talk like, is he a tackle, is he a guard? Did you see him as both? What did you see his future as?
KAFKA: Yeah, I think the vision for him was always to be a tackle, but he has the athletic ability to kind of do both. And he’s done both for us, just throughout training camp and OTAs and stuff and working it. So, I think the vision was always for tackle though.
Q: Real quick, (defensive lineman Rakeem Nuñez-Roches) Nacho, how’s he doing? It looks like he had some sort of setback. He went inside a little early the other day and was out of practice yesterday. Where’s he at?
KAFKA: Yeah, he’s going to give it a go again today, get some work. Again, just working through the comfortability of it. Those are some things that you don’t want to mess around with. So, if he felt it, we just kind of toned it back. But he had a couple days to kind of get back and get the swelling and get some of that soreness out. So, he’ll give it a go again today.
Q: In regard to the design runs, people look at it from the outside, they say the sheer numbers, you’re not using as many design runs post-concussion with (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart). What do you say to that, or what do you make of that?
KAFKA: Yeah, I’d say we’ve been carrying the same amount of design runs, run game, QB run game that we have really all season with Jaxson. So, it just really depends on how the game declares itself. We want to use it in certain situations that we want to use them. So, I would say, like, how the game’s going to roll will kind of determine when and where we want to use those things. But they’re always kind of a part of the game plan.
Q: What do you see with (Las Vegas Raiders running back) Ashton Jeanty? What kind of challenge do you see him presenting?
KAFKA: Oh, man, he’s one of those backs that you really got to understand where he’s at. I mean, he doesn’t take many plays off, but where they have him located, is he out of the backfield, where’s he at in the backfield, the dot, offset. He has the ability to kind of break it from anywhere on the field as a running back or as a receiver out in flat. So, we got to make sure we rally to him, get him down. It’s not going to take one. It’s going to have to be a gang-tackle type mentality where we can get this guy down because he can bounce off. He’s got great run-through contact, great strength, great speed. He’s a special player.
Q: Do you have any kind of relationship with (Raiders head coach) Pete Carroll? Have you ever crossed paths?
KAFKA: I have not. I have not, but I’ve always respected him from afar, watching how he’s operated and the success he’s had over his career. I know he’s put out some really cool books about competition and competing and stuff like that. I know that’s a big thing for him, and it’s been really cool. Obviously, (quarterback) Russ’s (Wilson) relationship with him, he’s always spoke very highly of him, the stories he’s told me. So nothing but respect for Coach Carroll.
Q: Is there a desperate element when you have two teams that I think are on nine-game losing streaks, like is there a desperation element to this game? Do you expect them to come out desperate, you guys to come out with anything like that?
KAFKA: I just expect our guys to play our game, play our game plan, go and execute our game plan. I think they’re in the right frame of mind, and having the meetings today, being able to bounce around those meetings, I think they’re in the right frame of mind. So, it’s about today, just putting together a good day of work so that we can go out to Vegas and have a good day.
Q: Outside the building, people look at the game with a different perspective, obviously, than the players do. What do you look at as where you guys are at as what the players’ motivation is at this point?
KAFKA: Yeah, we’re all in this thing together, so I think we all have the same vision and all have the same mindset in terms of putting together a great game plan, going and executing that game plan, mastering it all, and then going out to Vegas with the right frame of mind to go find a way to win, whatever that takes. Whatever that takes offensively, defensively, or special teams, finding a way to get a win at the end of the game.
Q: What is it, though, that motivates players at this point in the season? What do you use as a coach? Is it personal pride? Is it individual? Do you try to use all of that?
KAFKA: Yeah, I know as a former player and being in those locker rooms, like we’re a bunch of competitors. The coaching staff that we have here is a bunch of competitors, and so we want to win. And I think our mentality is not going to change from that. Our mentality is to go in there and find a way to win. And, I mean, when you talk with the guys, you see them in their books, you see them in the hallways, and you’re talking to those guys, like that’s really where they’re at and that’s where their mentality is at, not the outside or anything else, but focusing on this game and finding a way to win.