Opening Statement:

"Awesome. We'll get rolling today as our Friday goes. Hit you up on the captains and discuss those. On offense [T] Laremy Tunsil and man, what the impact he's made, his consistency, the standards, he's really impacted us on and off the field. On defense it'll be [DT] Daron Payne and really just kind of pointed out to the team, his intentional work. It's been from the spring through camp and a guy ready to go and then on special teams, [S] Percy Butler guy's just been an absolute badass, teams, on the field, off the field, we love his nature, what he brings to us. So, three excellent guys there. Want to give a quick congrats to [Managing Partner] Josh [Harris], to [Team President] Mark Clouse final vote of RFK has big news for the fans for the city and a lot of people worked really hard to create an opportunity like that. And so just want to acknowledge that. And then coming off a long wait, we're ready to go. Two tough teams ready to go fight and battle for it. Right attitude, right mindset, we're a resilient group. That's what I felt from the beginning. And that's where we're at. So, I'm not going to go through the entire injury report but give updates when I can. [QB] Jayden [Daniels] was limited today. On the field we decided to start [QB] Marcus [Mariota] and said at the beginning we were going to be very diligent on his return to play and make sure we didn't miss any steps. So, we're going to be smart, not just fast. Player wants to do everything all the time. That's who he is as a competitor, which I love. But that's how we'll roll. So take all your questions going from here."

On what went into the final decision to hold out Daniels:
"Yeah, just not being there all the way yet, honestly like being able to do everything. So, there's also a side that it was an excellent week because of the progress and encouragement to go. So, the fact that he was able to throw all days and get running in today, were just not there all the way yet. It wasn't just one specific test that I was looking for."

On what Daniels could do during practice:
"Speed work and throwing. You know, running, linear running, speed work. So, it's a good like kind of next to getting ready to play."

On if playing Daniels was a difficult decision to make:
"I didn't really put it into that space. Yeah, Better one for the medical guys on that one. I think just trust your eyes when you know it's ready to go. And like I said, we're just not going to do this thing in a fast way. We're going to do it in a smart way and make sure we make the right decisions. I think I said earlier, we know his importance to us and what we do, but it's going to try to just be as smart as we can."

On having to tell determined players they have to sit out:
"I learned that probably as a head coach to say, I remember going back to [Former Atlanta Falcons QB] Matt Ryan, like he was trying and he couldn't say no, I said I got this one and I remember like, he had an ankle, I just, you're out and just nodded his head because he couldn't get himself to say DQ, I'm not right. So, that's part of it for us to trust our eyes, there's metrics and things speeds and those tests. We also, like the eye test still works too, and through the years sometimes it goes all the way to game day and then you could feel that part to say, can you be yourself? And yes, but there's also players that like protect them from themself and I think that's probably just come through the years of experience."

On announcing the decision to not play Daniels now:
"So I just thought, 'hey man, this is where we're at and go through another good workout in tomorrow to go keep pushing at that space'. So just kind of staying on course really and go after it hard again tomorrow."

On being certain that Mariota can perform the was Offensive Coordinator Kliff Kingsbury wants it to be run:
"A lot, zero honestly to do with this week. When we have him here it's having two QBs in the building and we've been together now going into our second season. So, the room's pretty fantastic. They lean on each other when things are best, how to feature the guys into that space. So, I would say it's probably our time together of what we've seen where he is at. About a month ago he had an Achilles injury, maybe a little longer maybe, but he really worked hard to get that part right. And maybe three weeks ago or so, man, you could feel all the things coming back in the first week of the season working against the defense on so many things but he's just got such a strong grasp of what we do and how we get down."

On the timeline of Daniels' injury:
"I wish I was smarter at that, but I'm not going to play the doctor. I just can't but what I can say is that like when you're out running on the grass, that's a good sign that you're making progress and you're hitting all the right marks. And so, it also takes your legs to throw a lot it's not just an upper body stationary throw, it's everything to go through that, your movements to stuff. So, we're definitely encouraged about where the progress is being made. But as far as the specifics of it, I won't go into, but I can say that he's making like good progress. I wanted to see the speeds and the throwing, although it just seems like you would think that's just upper body. It's way more than that. Different platforms. How do I move and go? So that's a big part of it too, but there's also in and out of the pocket doing all the things to go. So, we still got work to do."

On when Daniels was told and his reaction:

"It was going to be during the post practice today to make sure we could hit all the marks. And like for an athlete and a competitor like he and some of his teammates, first thing they want to do is make sure, check in from the neck up and see this is where we're at and this is the best thing to do for the team. Even though it's hard, it's the more difficult right over the easier wrong and that's why I want to make sure also, what do we learn from these? What do we grow from? The only thing worse than not seeing him out there on the benches is not getting to what's the lessons, how do we apply them? But this guy's a real competitor, like to his core and that's where we're at. I'm sure he was probably like a duck under the water, a little mad and upset. But that's kind of the way we roll on everything. We're really upfront with the guys and tell them what we want, what we're looking for and where we're at. So, we just don't want them to live in any gray, not knowing where they stand or what's going down. So, I think it's important they put so much into it that we don't bullshit them either and say, this is what I see and fortunately we've all had some good time together so we have a lot of trust and we're always going to make the best decisions for the guys."

On how the team has adjusted to the amount of injuries:
"We talked about it right off the bat to be honest with you, to say that's part of adversity and you know it's going to come for every team. It just happened on the injury side, it hit ours earlier than some. But you want to make sure we talked to the players at the beginning, all of you are likely to have a chance to go win it. We want you to think of that not as a possibility, but as a certainty. When we talk about our roster, if you're on the practice squad or not to come up, it's not, don't worry about it, we're still learning it. You have to know the system, you have to get reps at practice. And so that's why we really push one another for the readiness. And that way when you do get called up or activated, it's not how I have to learn this or I have to be on this, like, no man, the system keep working your skills So, it can be frustrating for the player waiting, but it's cliches and stay ready and all that. But if you put them in, you're also in practice I'm saying you're proving that you are. You're proving that you can be counted on and be ready to deliver. And like we are, if I had three words for this team, resilient AF and we've got AF is not a word I know, but the part that I love about our group that these guys really care, they want to fight for it and it's just all that counts man. So, it's what I would expect from us. To step into spaces and deliver."

On DE Dorance Armstrong's performance this season:
"I'm proud to see the camp that he had and how he started off onto the season. He's worked hard and with the versatility we have now we can better feature players in different spots than maybe we were able to a year ago. And how do we find matchups and go and [LB] Von [Miller] help with that and [LB] Frankie [Luvu] and [DE] Jacob [Martin] and others and having flexibility helps. How do you want to match up? How do you want to do things? But you also have to be smart enough to handle all that and D.A. is right in the middle of all of that. So, I've loved that Von coming here has helped him. Also, he's been the mentor to [DE] Javontae [Jean-Baptiste] now there's other people to continue with his growth and he's off to a good start."

On WR Noah Brown and TE John Bates availability:
"We'll give you that at four. I was saying earlier, I think before you got here, I was not going to go through the whole injury report. That'll be at four, but I wanted to give you the big news that I had today."

On Las Vegas Raiders strengths:
"Yeah, first thing on the offense, I thought, man, the talent at tight end, running back, quarterback receivers I thought had the full compliment of things. That was the first thing that jumped out to me on the defensive side. I saw these linebackers that were square and like no surprise they played the run so well. These are veterans and tough inside linebackers. Obviously, we talked about [DE] Maxx [Crosby] earlier, we know about [S Jeremy] Chinn. So, two tough teams going to go battle for it here someday and, but that's what I noticed right off the bat. Them trying also to get their identity, how they want to play, but the full compliment tight ends, receivers, runners, strong arm quarterback, like the full thing."

On TE Zach Ertz and Chinn's history playing against each other:
"He's somebody that we really regard a lot and they'll feature him a little bit differently than maybe we had too and just that's happens when you go to a new team and a new system. Not everything's just plug and play in the same spot. But those two have got a good competitive history together. So those are the matchups within the game that you love. They're going to be battling for it. They've taken hundreds of reps against each other and so those are like within the game. Those are the matchups you love."

On RB Chris Rodriguez Jr. and RB Jeremy McNichols:
"Leading off with the running backs and Chris in particular, it's been, there's, did we go with four backs? Do we go up? I mean that's how we regarded him in such a high way that we are very confident in Chris. I thought a lot of guys through a good off season in training camp, but Chris is in that conversation for the best of that changes his body. He's skill work to go. So, he's really chomping at the bit to get going and, and we're excited to feature him, Jeremy. He is as consistent as you can get in a pros pro. So, it's teams, it's third down, it's first, second down. There's really high standards of how he does things and there's a lot of guys on this team that have that same way that are our glue guys. They just stand for all the right stuff and can be completely dependent on. That's one."

On T Josh Conerly Jr. going up against veterans to start his career:
"That's life in it and it's not always easy and you're going to learn these lessons that you go through that, okay, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that differently. And so those are good things too. I'd love to say that it, when it got hard, you take him out. Like, I don't know if you get better doing that in this space. It's you dig, you fight and like there's so much good that he has and that he's doing. And so, I don't want to shine a light the other way because I know where he is going to go and we all have a lot of faith and belief in him. It's how you also get better really fast. Like you get pushed to your limits past where you're comfortable past where you feel good and you have to go get it done anyway. And those are kind of cool moments that you grow and learn from. And this guy's a real competitor so like we're expecting him to go battle and fight for it against another like fantastic player."