Various Raider players post, game, 10.11.09

Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha

Q. What happened out there?

A. They were a good team. You watch them on film and you know they’re good, but it’s different when you come out and they’re actually hitting everything like that. So I mean they were exactly the type of stuff that we saw on film. A good team, balanced on offense, and they’re going to push you on defense, and it worked out.

Q. Do losses like this discourage you from the big picture?

A. You’ve got to look at the loss, you can’t just look past it. You have to look at it, you have to study it, you have to get better from it. Right now we’re not playing very good football.

Q. What does this team need to happen to change the negative attitude in the locker room? Would it take just a win against one of these teams coming up?

A. It would take a win in one of these games, but it probably wouldn’t shake off all of the negative energy. Right now we’re underachieving as a football team. There’s so much talent, you hear the guys after the game…I mean this is probably the most talented team we’ve played against but we’re underachieving at a high level. I mean there are times when we could really be dominating and it’s completely the other way around.

Q. Do you think Eli (Manning) and David Carr were avoiding you? It seemed like most of the damage was done on the opposite side of the field.

A. Eli said after the game that that was the plan and you hear that no matter what team that you’re playing against. There’s other things that we could have done to help that, but they’re good quarterbacks, they know where to place the ball, they know how to be smart with it and everything like that.

Q. How do you reconcile when you’re underachieving, it doesn’t look like it’s a lack of effort…

A. Yeah, it’s not a lack of effort. The physical part of it is fine, but it’s the mental part that has to take a step up. It’s all about knowing where you’re supposed to be on the field, helping the team out, and playing smart, that’s where it needs to take a step up. Physically, we’re fine. I mean we draft all the speed in the world, and all the size in the world, so you know we’re going to have some talent, but mentally, we just have to play better…do better all week.

Defensive Tackle Richard Seymour

Q. A lot of guys in this locker room have gone through this for years. You’ve been winning for years, so what can you tell them to try and help them get through this?

A. Well, you know I think you’d have to go back and watch film and get better. Some of the mistakes that we made—because obviously we’re not playing the game the way the game is supposed to be played. So we have to go back, watch film, do a better job throughout the week. As cliché as it sounds, everybody’s got to do their job. You know we can’t worry about someone else’s responsibility. If they’re not getting it done, then we need to get someone else in there, and that’s just the bottom line. I mean, Kirk (Morrison) can’t come up and play defensive line, I can’t get up and play linebacker, Nnamdi (Asomugha) can’t come up and play linebacker. You know, so everyone has to take care of their responsibility and I know it sounds cliché but you just have to take care of your job, and if you’re not doing your job, it’s up to the coaching staff to get someone in there who will do the job.

Q. Are you confident that this roster has it in them?

A. Oh absolutely. Like I said, I think that’s the most disappointing thing. So we have the personnel, we have the talent, and I think guys want to win. They’re trying to win and they’re putting their best foot forward, but obviously like I said, it’s not transferring onto the field and that is disappointing from that standpoint. You know the only thing you can do is roll up your sleeves and continue to work. Obviously, we’ve all got to play better, from the top to the bottom, every guy on the roster.