LAS VEGAS, Nevada – The Las Vegas Raiders concluded their training camp tonight with a tie against the San Francisco 49ers on Friday at Allegiant Stadium in their final exhibition game of the season.
Our own Aidan Champion described it this way.
For a Las Vegas Raiders game that didn’t have any first-team players on the field on offense or defense, their final preseason game on Friday night against the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium was probably their most entertaining.
The game ended in a 24-24 tie and with a thrilling final few minutes, it ended the Raiders’ 2024 preseason.
A few moments ago we spoke exclusively with defensive end Charles Snowden, who had a great training camp and may have played his way onto the roster.
Here’s what he had to say to Sports Illustrated; you can watch it below.
Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce also spoke after the game. Here is the full transcript.
Q: AP, as a head coach, you obviously want your guys to make your job difficult. Can you maybe talk about some of the guys that did that tonight?
ANTONIO PIERCE: Yeah, I thought McAllister did a hell of a job, Ramel, Robinson, Gainer. They just stand out right off the bat. But there’s a lot of material, a lot of footage to correct, right? And also a lot of situational football that our older guys can learn from. It was nice to see those guys fight until the end.
Q: What have you seen from Snowden tonight and throughout the preseason and training camp?
ANTONIO PIERCE: Yeah, some ups and downs and just good on special teams. We’re looking for consistency.
Q: As for Tyreik, there was always a certain tension during training camp when he got the ball and that carried over into tonight’s game. Can you talk a little about him? He seems like a promising prospect.
ANTONIO PIERCE: Yeah, he’s got it, right? He came out of the CFL and played running back, but never really played wide receiver. You can see that transition in the offseason program. I thought he did a heck of a job in training camp, quietly and quietly. If you really think about the Minnesota game, he took one. We saw that in practice, but today he took it to a new level, got one in the crib and made a heck of a catch and a great adjustment on a reception. And then even just covering kicks. He made an impact tonight.
Q: How will you proceed as you begin to decide in the next few days who will make it to the 53 and who will not?
ANTONIO PIERCE: Yeah, Tom and I are going to sit there and take some shots and brainstorm and write down some names and look at it. It’s tough. It’s not easy to take 37 guys out and tell them to find another place or whatever. That’s the nature of the thing and we’ll evaluate it over the next 48 hours.
Q: As far as run defense, are you saying it’s just preseason or are you kind of — are you concerned at all? What’s your opinion?
ANTONIO PIERCE: No. I don’t think it’s good enough. That’s not up to standard. Frankly, that’s not up to our standards. We don’t want anybody just cornering us in the middle of the field. A lot of these things, we have to get loose at the first level, the front line, and our linebackers have to keep up with the back line. It’s the same plays. Same thing Minnesota did, so obviously as a defensive team we have to clean up. Our veterans look at it differently now, with the veterans standing on the sideline and looking at it like coaches. You hear them talking, well, damn, I told you that two weeks ago. It’s good for the guys to see that. It’s really good for us to have it on film. We have to go back to the drawing board. We have about two weeks until the regular season to fix that.
Q. AP, the preseason with your test matches is over. I’m curious: What surprised you most about your team and what did you not think you would be able to do today?
ANTONIO PIERCE: Yeah, that’s just the way we compete. Today, I thought the game was up and down at times, emotional. And the guys at the end, Carter and the guys that moved the ball on offense. I thought they did a great job of just celebrating with each other, coaching each other on the sidelines, cheering each other on and battling. When we put together our 53-man roster, we know what it’s like, we know what it’s like.
It’s a matter of business, but I think we accomplished what we wanted to accomplish in training camp and in the offseason program.
Q. Two quick questions: Amari Gainer played a lot tonight. You put pressure on him and it seems like he responded. Quick thoughts on that. And also the process of throwing the challenge flag and everything. I know it’s preseason for all of that too. How did that all go?
ANTONIO PIERCE: Yeah, I think Amari did a really good job. Listen, you’ve got an opportunity, you make the most of it. If I was a player, I wouldn’t want to be taken out of the game now that there are cuts. He hung in there until the end and called the shots on defense tonight; he did that for the first time too.4. Just some bright spots and things he can learn from as well. That was good to see. The challenge flags, listen, it’s preseason. A lot of the things we did in the first, second game, we’re tweaking and evaluating, myself and Matt Sheldon, who handles game management, the timeouts you saw there, and we’re trying to get that right and are constantly working on it. Like I said, it’s really preparation for everybody, for me, for everybody getting ready for the regular season.
Q. Byron Young, we’ve talked about the importance of his development this year. He made some pretty good plays early on. What do you think of him tonight?
ANTONIO PIERCE: Yeah, I thought it was a good game for him. He played a lot of snaps again. One of those young players that you just want to see more reps from. They just need more reps, man. Sometimes you think, okay, like you’re talking about, we call these young players in their first, second year not ready. It takes time. Tonight was hopefully a step forward for him to go out there and take reps and really try hard. You’re exhausted out there. They had 74 snaps. You know you have to play and he’s on early downs, but it was good to see him get a sack and the guys celebrate with him. That’s the best part of the preseason. Especially this third game for us, not letting our starters play and just seeing the excitement when their teammate makes a play.
tQ. In a game like this, is there anything you can do without the regulars that gives you a gut feeling – just a gut feeling or an instinct about how the situation is going to play out?
ANTONIO PIERCE: I don’t think it’s going to play out. I think for us as a team and our players, a lot of it comes down to the situation. You saw at the end of the half, our offense did a great job. We scored, got the ball in the second half and boom, we scored another seven points. We played it right there, so that’s good. And then the situation at the end of the game, right? The quarterback missed a sign and he made it. All right, we’ve got to go out and kick a field goal. So there’s a lot to learn and I think we’ve put a lot of effort into preparing. Yeah, I want to win every game. You also want to learn a lot of lessons so we don’t make those mistakes in the future.
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