The Las Vegas Raiders have a versatile, experienced running back in Ameer Abdullah.
The veteran is one of the biggest voices in the locker room and the leader of the running back corps. Abdullah recently spoke ahead of a Week 14 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and we have the entire video right here:
Below is a partial transcript from interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner's latest presser:
Q: How important is patience then from an organization, a coaching staff, to understand that there will be that learning curve, and it feels like they shuffle through quarterbacks all the time?
Coach Turner: "Yeah, I think so. I think just understanding that every case is different. Some guys are going to come in, and because of maybe the team around them or just how they're wired, they're going to catch fire. And then there's some other guys that maybe not and it takes them a little longer. And then there's some guys that you can just tell that's probably not for them. And I think, like I said, I think you just have to be honest with your evaluation, and then you’ve got to be willing to kind of change that evaluation as you get more information."
Q: Yesterday we talked to Aidan O'Connell, he spoke about how comfortable and how confident he was in you. Can you speak about your confidence in Aidan?
Coach Turner: "Yeah, he's a really smart, focused individual. He makes decisions on time, and for the most part they’re the right decisions. No one's going to be 100%, but I always tell him if the ball is coming out of your hand, then I'm not going to be mad at you. I might coach you up on a different look, but there's always really good communication. He's not afraid to tell me how he feels about a call or a certain way we're doing a play. And then I'll give it right back to him, whether I agree with him or I'll maybe explain to him why we have it a certain way, and then he'll get it. But he loves football, he's all in on it, and I think the more he plays, the more he'll continue to grow. But I wanted to give him a chance to make plays on Friday night, and he did. It was fun to see, obviously not the result we wanted, but there was a lot of really good things that our guys did. I was proud of them."
Q: When you look at the Tampa Bay defense, the head of the snake has kind of been Lavonte David, who has been there for awhile. Can you just talk about why he's been successful in the league for so long? And also, do you believe that the Tampa Bay defense in general really resembles kind of what he brings the field?
Coach Turner: "Yeah, Lavonte David, we've had some matchups with him in the past, different places that I've been. I really got a lot of respect for him as a player, both just the mental side of it, his football knowledge and then just him as an athlete. He's a good tackler, he's been really good in coverage throughout his career. He's just a really, really good player. And then he's got the big guy in front of him that makes it tough. And they’ve got a good defense. Coach Todd Bowles is someone that I've coached against in the past, and he really does a good job of keeping you off balance and bringing different looks. But no, I mentioned Vita Vea and then Lavonte, I mean those are two guys that have been there a decent amount of time and two tough players to go against."
Q: The run game is a function of all 11 guys, but what has Sincere McCormick kind of brought to the run game that kind of jump started things?
Coach Turner: "He's really done a nice job of, I talked about the quarterback, like the quarterbacks, obviously the key decision maker everyone talks about, but like the running back is also a decision maker, because he decides where we're going to run the ball. Obviously we have a plan, but they’ve got to use their vision, and he's done a really nice job. Ameer [Abdullah] as well ran the ball very well. But Sincere [McCormick] has been decisive, he's gotten the ball where it's supposed to be for the most part, and then he's done a really good job of not letting that first guy tackle him. And that might only be a five-yard gain, but if that first guy hit you at two and we get five, now it's second and five, and that makes a big difference for the whole offense. And he's done a nice job of getting those 11-yard gains him and Ameer both, where it's like now you're getting a first down and getting to first and 10 is huge."
