RAIDERS COACH TOM CABLE

Quick Injury Update, two guys didn't finish the game; Luke Lawton with an ankle sprain and Ricky Brown with an ankle sprain. Both of them got x-rays, they were negative. We'll see in a day or two what the extent of the injury was. Other than our effort on special teams, we just got outplayed on both sides of the ball. We're trying to keep pushing through and I just talked about, at some point we have to get a stop so we can move forward as a football team.

Q: Obviously the performance wasn't what you wanted, what did you feel about your team's effort?

A: Effort I didn't feel like was such a big deal. I felt like we were just getting beat on the line of scrimmage. In terms of protection, we used a lot of seven and eight man protection and lost individual match-ups.

Q: Is that a game that you write off to the fact that you were playing a team that was that good or was that a measurement game?

A: I don't ever write them off that way. I expected more out of us and we just did not deliver today.

Q: Was the shuffling of the O-line just too much, especially considering the Giants' D-line.

A: It doesn't help, that's for sure. But if you get in there during a game you need to be able to execute what you're trying to do. Certainly, the Giants have an excellent defensive line.

Q: Should JaMarcus be more aware with those fumbles?

A: It's just a matter of moving around and second effort by their guy or a second move. Just the individual match-ups where we got beat.

Q: What's your level of concern with Russell now?

A: I'm concerned for this football team, not just JaMarcus. I'm concerned with this football team in that I have so much faith in them, I believe so strongly in them. But at some point you have to draw the line in the sand, you have to put your foot down and say that's enough so that you can move forward as a ball team.

Q: How do you do that?

A: You stay the course. You don't start making personnel changes and do all those kinds of things. You just keep pushing and it just takes a few plays here and there to really kind of get yourself on track if you will and that's what happens. You can take off as a team.

Q: What happened to the defense after the first two games?

A:  Well looking at it, today it looked like poor tackling, to be quite honest with you. Guys really were just playing the scheme, didn't do anything really to surprise us or anything like that, but they were able to throw it and run it.

Q: Randy Hanson made some comments to a website about the incident on August 5. Why do you think he felt compelled to go public with his side of the story at this point in the investigation?

A: Again, I respect the fact that you have to ask the question. I don't know why he would do that, but the process will take care of it.

Q: How do you keep going?

A: Well because there are fifty-three guys in that locker room and a coaching staff who need me to be strong, need me to keep pushing forward.

Q: How do you keep the incident from being a distraction to the team when they read the papers and they read the internet?

A: I supposed that for me it's just go to work everyday and do your job and the process will really do what it's got to do.

Q: Just a follow up question. Hanson said you threw him from a chair. Can you respond to that?

A: I will not respond to any of that.

Q: Have you consciously addressed the team about not letting that be a distraction?

A: I haven't and when it is all settled and done, everyone will see why. I'm just going to stay the course right now.

Q: Have you talked to the Napa Valley Prosecutor?

A: Again, I'm not going to answer any questions pertaining to that.

Q: Did you meet with Roger Goodell this week?

A: I did not.

Q: Is it, at this point with the kick return game, the blocking?

A: It really looks like there were a couple seams today and I think we have to get Johnnie Lee over that shock from that first game. In terms of the kickoff return, just get into the seams quicker.

Q: Are there any moves you think you have to make in the next week?

A: It would be easy to just stand here right now and just start talking about this or that. But I don't want to do that, I want to get back and look at it. We have to keep pushing forward because, again, I know what we're capable of. It's just a matter of getting them there.

Q: How do you stop this from snowballing? How do you get these guys from thinking it's '06 all over again?

A: Because it's not and we're not them. We have to just take care of us right now. We have a couple of home games coming up and the ability, maybe, to get ourselves a little healthier in a couple of spots and see if we can move forward.

Q: Do you still have a conviction on JaMarcus? Will he put the work in to get to be that guy?

A:  I think he has started to put the work in. He has for a while now. He's no different than anyone else on our team, he has to just keep pushing until we get it.

Q: Were there any thoughts of going to Frye or Gradkowski in the game?

A: I did not. I thought the issue was much greater than that.

Q: Do you think Eli coming out and starting was a shot to their offense?

A: Well certainly he's a great player

Q: What positives come out from leaving JaMarcus in there and letting him fight through that?

A: I don't know that there were too many positives that way, on the offense or defense. But I took it as a better effort in the special teams area.

Q: Watching the Giants defense on film and working with your offensive line during the week, did you know that you really were up against it?

A: Well you know you're up against it even if you're healthy. So you still have to be at your best and we weren't today.

QB JAMARCUS RUSSELL Q .The performance today was not what you wanted? What did you think of the team's effort?

A. It was kind of behind the eight-ball once again, but I think we kept fighting till the end.  We played against a great football team today and it showed, especially when we were not moving the football like we should and you have got to strike some kind of way against a team of that nature, got a good defense, offense is moving the ball.  Our offense, we just have to show up.

Q. How frustrating is it struggling on offense every week and now facing a great team?

A.  It can't really be explained. We say we are not far on certain plays but not far is not going to get us where we need to be, you know we need to be there you know much closer than we are.

Q. After the fumble Gerard Warren was trying to calm you down, what was going on?

A. Just telling me to keep fighting, to stick in there.  When it catches you off guard like that, sometimes when you don't feel it, a guy he is in full motion going right at the ball, if I see it, you can brace yourself for it, for such a collision that way.  He was telling me he was going to try to go out and get the ball back, so we can get a chance to get it to move the offense.

Q. Did he do it because he knew you were frustrated or because the situation called for it?

A.  He does it a lot, He tells me to keep fighting , he is going to get the ball back so we can move forward as an offense.

Q.  Did you feel comfortable behind the reshuffled offensive line.

A. I don't really pay attention to who is in and when a guy is out, and that is a better situation for the guy who came in.  He has got to show what he can do to help and I expect that out of each and every one of the guys that came in the game so I don't really pay much attention to it so I just do what I can do and control what I can control at times, like I said we played against a good group out there today and it shows.

Q. The sacks, they didn't come from your blind side. Looked like you were locked in on your receivers. Did you feel the pressure, were you locked in, what happened?

A. Locked in, you know. Most of the time you feel it and you kind of get away from it and guys are there. Everywhere you look, guys are there making plays and they were just making plays today.

Q. What possible good can come out of this today?

A. The good things we did today; that's always a plus, you know. It might not seem like it at the time but it's always a plus to look from it. Hopefully we can gain a lot from it and just keep fighting. It's got to be a brighter day. At the end of that tunnel, it's got to be a brighter light.

Q. What good things?

A. Uh, you know, on certain plays, when you tell the guy is making the right step on a block, or anything positive you can pull out of what we did today. That would be a lot of help, I think."

Q. Dan Dierdorf said on TV today that you told him you were fined for being overweight. True?

A. (Smiles sheepishly) Uh, that was sorta the first, first day we came to practice. 

Q. Camp?

A. Yeah. So that's over with.

Q. So it happened months ago?

A. (Still smiling) Yeah…thank you, guys.

CB NNAMDI ASOMUGHA
Q. What happened out there?

A. They were a good team. You watch them on film and you know they're good, but it's different when you come out and they're actually hitting everything like that. So I mean they were exactly the type of stuff that we saw on film. A good team, balanced on offense, and they're going to push you on defense, and it worked out.
Q. Do losses like this discourage you from the big picture?

A. You've got to look at the loss, you can't just look past it. You have to look at it, you have to study it, you have to get better from it. Right now we're not playing very good football.
Q. What does this team need to happen to change the negative attitude in the locker room? Would it take just a win against one of these teams coming up?

A. It would take a win in one of these games, but it probably wouldn't shake off all of the negative energy. Right now we're underachieving as a football team. There's so much talent, you hear the guys after the game…I mean this is probably the most talented team we've played against but we're underachieving at a high level. I mean there are times when we could really be dominating and it's completely the other way around.
Q. Do you think Eli (Manning) and David Carr were avoiding you? It seemed like most of the damage was done on the opposite side of the field.

A. Eli said after the game that that was the plan and you hear that no matter what team that you're playing against. There's other things that we could have done to help that, but they're good quarterbacks, they know where to place the ball, they know how to be smart with it and everything like that.
Q. How do you reconcile when you're underachieving, it doesn't look like it's a lack of effort…

A. Yeah, it's not a lack of effort. The physical part of it is fine, but it's the mental part that has to take a step up. It's all about knowing where you're supposed to be on the field, helping the team out, and playing smart, that's where it needs to take a step up. Physically, we're fine. I mean we draft all the speed in the world, and all the size in the world, so you know we're going to have some talent, but mentally, we just have to play better…do better all week.

DT RICHARD SEYMOUR

Q. A lot of guys in this locker room have gone through this for years. You've been winning for years, so what can you tell them to try and help them get through this?

A. Well, you know I think you'd have to go back and watch film and get better. Some of the mistakes that we made—because obviously we're not playing the game the way the game is supposed to be played. So we have to go back, watch film, do a better job throughout the week. As cliché as it sounds, everybody's got to do their job. You know we can't worry about someone else's responsibility. If they're not getting it done, then we need to get someone else in there, and that's just the bottom line. I mean, Kirk (Morrison) can't come up and play defensive line, I can't get up and play linebacker, Nnamdi (Asomugha) can't come up and play linebacker. You know, so everyone has to take care of their responsibility and I know it sounds cliché but you just have to take care of your job, and if you're not doing your job, it's up to the coaching staff to get someone in there who will do the job.
Q. Are you confident that this roster has it in them?

A. Oh absolutely. Like I said, I think that's the most disappointing thing. So we have the personnel, we have the talent, and I think guys want to win. They're trying to win and they're putting their best foot forward, but obviously like I said, it's not transferring onto the field and that is disappointing from that standpoint. You know the only thing you can do is roll up your sleeves and continue to work. Obviously, we've all got to play better, from the top to the bottom, every guy on the roster.