Antonio Pierce of the Raiders gives his players trust: “It would be foolish of you to ignore them.”
HENDERSON, Nevada It’s been quite the rookie season for Tyree Wilson. The general manager and coach who selected the pass rusher were fired on Halloween night, and the player has been struggling to establish himself with the Las Vegas Raiders
However, Wilson and the Raiders were excited to get back to work on Monday after their bye week. Despite knowing they have a slim chance of making the playoffs at 5-7, they were eager to get back to practice under interim coach Antonio Pierce.
“The biggest change is the energy, along with the buy-in and camaraderie,” Wilson said after practice Thursday. “Everyone is coming out to practice every day and working hard, trying to be better each Sunday. We know if we execute what the coaches want, we are going to win.”
The Raiders’ seven-day bye week was their longest since they also enjoyed a full week off under Jon Gruden in 2019. Pierce explained that the bye week gave everyone a chance to gather themselves and realize that they just needed to “keep going.” The Raiders play the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday and the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday in their two games in a span of five days.
According to Pierce on Wednesday, the farewell week consisted of “everything reflection, self-scout, preparation, rest, getting questions answered, answering questions.” Very beneficial to me personally as well as to our players, staff, coaches, and support personnel.