Players talk about Raiders Week
By Nick Floyd
Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports
Quarterback Alex Smith on rivalries and the Raiders,
"I’m excited; rivalries in the game of football are what makes it special at every level. For us at the NFL level, it’s these division games and they all kind of have their unique relationship, each one of the four teams. I’m excited for this and obviously I was playing football in the Bay area close to Oakland, I’m very familiar with them, from being close to them as well. (I’m) excited for it."
The team gave Smith a little more back story on the Raiders,
"A little bit, yeah. I found out this morning that they haven’t won a home game against Oakland since 2006 I think, so I’d like to get that changed. And I’m still finding out more and more about what this is about."
Thoughts on how good the defense has been playing,
"I appreciate not only the defense, but special teams. In the end, it’s such a team game, and I think that’s what makes it so great and so popular. The way defense is playing right now is really special so it’s great to have them."
Defensive Tackle Dontari Poe on playing the Raiders this weekend,
"The plan is to just keep playing like I have been, getting better every day at practice, every week and just playing good team defense."
He also gave the coaching staff some much deserved praise,
"I commend the coaches, they’re the people who come in and try to help us do the best that we can where we’re at. I wouldn’t say I’m surprised because I saw the work we put in during this offseason. We’ve been working hard and I’m glad we’re at this point, but we have a long way to go."
Wide receiver AJ Jenkins spoke about the defense of the Oakland Raiders,
"They’re a good team, a very good coverage team. They obviously have Charles Woodson in the back and he’s been in the league 16 years and has been playing at a very high level. The Raiders overall are a good team. They’re a rival, it’s the first AFC West game, so it’s going to be a tough battle"
Safety Eric Berry talking about scoring on defense,
"That’s always our goal. We want to get stops, but before we get stops, we want to get the ball and before we get the ball we want to score. That’s what we pride ourselves on, just making plays and giving our offense a chance to score as well."
John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
Linebacker Derrick Johnson on the offense of the Raiders,
"They are a very good team. They’re very explosive; they have a lot of athletes on their team. (Terrelle) Pryor is the main one. He’s the guy that makes it all run. You can do a lot on offense through him. He’s done a good job as a young quarterback that is up and coming."
Tight End Sean McGrath has been making an impact with his play and spoke about the Oakland Raiders vs Chiefs Rivalry,
"Yeah, the juices are flowing every week. Every week that you get to play a game, it’s a great one. We’re going to go about preparing the same way we have every other week. It being a rivalry week, everything outside is blowing up. We just have to stay within ourselves and worry about what we have to do: respect the game, respect the opponent and go out there and execute the game plan."