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The Oakland Raiders suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys in a very boring and brutal first game of the preseason. Both teams looked sloppy offensively with the defenses controlling the pace. One area of improvement for Oakland was that they only committed 5 penalties in the contest. This was a team last year that was undisciplined and broke records committing way too many penalties. First year head coach Dennis Allen is impressed by his defense so far and is enjoying the training camp experience as the man in charge.
Dennis Allen joined 95.7 The Game in San Francisco with The Wheelhouseto discuss the status of Oakland Raiders training camp, the differences of being a head coach in training camp, enjoying his time as head coach of the Oakland Raiders and a few players that have impressed him in training camp.
How’s training camp going right now?
“It’s been good. We’ve been out here working real hard. The guys have been grinding away and doing a nice job.”
How is it different now in training camp as a head coach?
“The practice part of it isn’t any different. The intensity. The focus. The attention to detail. That’s the same no matter where it’s been. The thing that has probably been a little different is all the external things you gotta worry about like scheduling, travel, talking to the media. But those are things that take up your time and make it difficult.”
I know you’re focused in your first training camp as a head coach, but are you enjoying this experience?
“Yeah. I’m not too consumed with trying to take it all in. I’m trying to help this team get better and win football games this season. I tell you what makes it fun is when you got guys coming out here working like our guys are doing. They are competing and working to get better on an every day basis. When guys work like that it makes it fun.”
Who are some guys that have impressed you so far in training camp and preseason?
“There’s been several. Everybody is talking a lot about Rod Streater. He’s a guy that has stood out in camp. Mike Goodson has been a guy that has really come on and been impressive. Tony Bergstrom is a guy that played really well in the preseason game the other night, so I was encouraged to see him play like he did. Miles Burris is a young guy that has played well. That’s really mentioning a lot of the young guys that maybe you didn’t anticipate. A guy I think that has been exceptional has been Rolando McClain. He’s been a guy that has done everything we have asked him to do. He’s smart. He understands the defense and the concepts we are trying to run and if he continues to improve the way he has been improving and continues to fit within the scheme the way he has done so far I would expect him to have a good year.
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