Behind The Shield: Mindset (Ep. 3) | 2025 Season | Las Vegas Raiders | NFL

Behind The Shield: Mindset (Ep. 3) | 2025 Season | Las Vegas Raiders | NFL

the attitude that you bring on a regular basis to everything that you’re challenged by moment to moment. How are you going to look at it? Are you going to take this as a competitive moment or not? That’s kind of how we live. Thank you. It’s it’s got to be competitive. It’s got to be upbeat. It’s got to be, you know, ongoing. And so that, you know, I I got to live that way. And it’s that’s just where I like being, you know, just a day in media day trying to get my name said right. You know, that’s just just the type of stuff we on today. You know, first media day ever with the Raiders. It’s media day here at Raiders HQ. Welcome to the special edition of Raiders Roundt. Every day is is just another chance to go at it and demonstrate that we can live it on a really high level. He has a formula. He has a process. He has a program. You know, ready to come to work and ready to compete every day. Every day we got to figure out how can we add to that. Well, you learn one thing. We’re always competing. [Music] [Music] [Music] We’re all good spat [Music] here at 1475 Raiders. way. Competition is the sole focus of everyone in the building. It sits behind the wheel, driving each player, coach, and scout to become better than yesterday. Everything has uh has kind of gone as planned so far. So, it’s nice to have a plan, and it’s kind of fitting together. You know, we’ve come in here roaring with with approach and philosophy and mentality. And to see it, you know, kind of formulate has been exciting. Pressure, pressure, pressure. Here we go. Ready? Warms my heart to see that we’re having fun and we’re working really hard and guys are you you can tell that they can sense that there’s something changing. A lot of expectations for us. We’re going to, you know, we’re going for it. We’re not holding back. We’re not looking for any give us some grace period or any of that kind of stuff. That’s not that’s not how we’re going about this. You know, we want to go get it right now. And and I I think the players feel that sense of urgency and they’re and they’re showing it by the way they practice. With free agency in the draft over, phase three of the off season begins, which means it’s the first time both the full team and coaches can get to work on the field. And in true Pete Carol fashion, the vibes are high. Hey, let’s go go. [Music] I don’t know how he doing it, honestly. You got a lot of energy, man. I truly respect it. [Music] Here we go. There we go. Every day. [Applause] He’s a fun person to be around if you’ve ever been around him. You see just how you know positive he always is. He’s always got a bright smile. He’s always laughing, joking around and uh you know to have him as a coach. He’s a part of the team. You know, it’s not him above the team or you know, anyone above the team. It’s everyone together collectively. And I think that’s what he does a great job of doing is is creating a collective mindset for everyone. Every year, new players enter the dark side with one goal in mind, winning. So far, throughout the 2025 off season, many new faces have begun to emerge in key positions for the silver and black. On the defensive side of the ball, it all starts with the green dot. When you do see my style of play, you can tell like, oh, he’s a big student of the game. you know, he’s a uh a QB from a defensive side of it. I think I I I do a good job making sure that communication is going very well. And that that’s what a quarterback of a defense do and whatnot. And um you know, anything go wrong, I’m I’m just that guy to like just put it on me. over. I think Iron’s going to have an elite year. He loves to hit and I think he has some statements he wants to make with his game and I think he’s going to make them. A lot of new faces on the linebacker core as well. Then Landon Roberts, a veteran of the game of course. It’s like what does he help bring to kind of help stabilize that group as you’ve seen so much change over with him. It’s been great just talking football with them and you know that that position is critical for me to be able to speak to them. Not I don’t want them to be coaches but you know for us to have a great understanding because usually that’s the spot with the green dot. My big thing was just learning my coaches, learning the organization, and at the same time learning my teammates and and having them learn me and know who I am because uh you know, it’s it’s it’s it’s easy to be a presence, but it’s even harder to be a leader. I love that part of of football. I love that part of leadership. I love that part of being a Mike linebacker because it ain’t easy. And it is you do you are the hub of communication and stuff like that. But I just feel like when that game on the line, put it on me. Like I that’s just how I feel. Even if I’m not making the play and it doesn’t matter. But it’s just like, you know, if if that moment do present itself that I know I’ll be prepared and I know my guys around me be prepared because I know the where the communication came from and who set it up. Leadership in this business is everything. Without it, your team has no chance. But leadership isn’t about who’s being the loudest. A true leader shows up in the subtleties and sets the tone with talent, effort, and holding everyone to a higher standard. When you talk about leadership, you know, it really comes down to integrity. You know, that’s a big thing for me is is what you do when no one’s watching. And uh I try to, you know, be a passionate leader, but I also try to lead by example. So I’m not the biggest talker, you know, instead I’m the the guy who’s trying to be the hardest worker. And so I just want to continue to lead, you know, by example and, you know, push myself, push my teammates to get better. [Applause] Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. [Applause] Let’s go, baby. Hey, let’s get the work, man. Be sharp and arm. Let’s be great today. Be us ready on 313. Oh, he’s slinging that thing and he’s having fun and he’s competing and he’s jawing out at max. It’s so fun. He’s He’s gotten definitely comfortable with the team and we’ve had a lot of fun and he’s having a lot of fun, too. For me, it’s about, you know, uh, building relationships and, uh, you know, just talking to all the guys, getting to know Trey, getting to know Jacobe, just really connecting with the guys and making sure they understand that, um, it’s about production. We’re here to win now, but, um, it’s also about the relationships we build along the way. This rookie class is uh, very mature. They’re becoming pros. They’re learning. I think Dante and Jack have done a great job of just stepping right in and uh becoming a part of this team. And we got high expectations for those guys, right? There’s guys like Brock, there’s guys like Jacobe um that you can learn from and you can watch. So um for those young guys, they just got to pay attention to what’s going on and um just learn from the vets and they’ve done a great job with that. Sweet. Yeah. Yeah. Raiders. From [Music] [Applause] Friday night lights, college stadiums to the ultimate stage at the start of mini camp with fresh faces and untapped potential. The three rookie draft pick wide receivers are not here to play. They’re here to compete. got better today, especially in a two minute, you know, obviously really excited to work with them. Have been following them closely since the draft. So, it’s great to try to get your hands on them and and try to mold them into what you want them to be. So, uh, definitely excited about progress they’ve made so far in the last month. I think Jack, first of all, we’re trying to work with him, play him in a couple different spots, and find out what’s the best role for him. He’s one of those guys that wants to learn, wants to get better. He’s got the right mindset. He’s got the right uh attitude. And he’ll continue to do he’ll get better every day cuz he won’t let it not be that way. Take it back. I grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, which is like the pretty southern part of Louisiana. [Music] Grew up faith, family, and football. The three big Fs, you know, always keep God first, no matter what it is, ups, downs, if everything’s going great, everything’s going bad, if everything’s just going even line, always put God first, glorify him in everything we do. family always comes second and then football kind of ties everything in. [Music] I just got to be my best every day and then stack those days. Uh don’t worry about the future. Don’t worry about the past. Just worry about the present moment. You know, I think that plays into everything I’m trying to accomplish. Knowing Yeah. Like I said, you know, everything I do is for God, for my brother, it’s for my family. day in day out. Um, you know, they’re the ones I do it for. I do it for my late brother who passed away a couple months ago. You know, those are the people that every morning whenever I wake up, those are the people I think about first to wake up and keep grinding, keep going, to come out here. My uncle said, you know, I just got to be my best every day and then stack those days. [Music] I would say to be great at anything you want to do, you know, you have to sacrifice a lot. uh no matter what you want to do, what you want to pursue in life, you know, there is a million other people trying to do the same thing. So, what are you going to do that’s going to separate you from the pack? You know, day in day out, you got to be on top of your game day in day out. You know, I’m all about just getting 1% better each and every day. Cuz if you put in that extra 1% each and every day that nobody else is, that 1% is going to be 100% 1,000% 10,000%. And it’s not a matter of weeks or months. It’s a matter of just years being stacked on top of each other. just get it 1% better each and every day. And if you do that, like I said earier earlier, you do that, you work hard, you put God first, and like I said, you can accomplish anything you want to. It’s not only for me, you know, it’s for them, too. You know, that’s a big part of it. Uh, you know, I’m just truly grateful and blessed that I could live out our dream. I said it was my brother’s dream and my dream as well. Uh, so being able to live out our dream has been awesome. You know, I’m excited for each and every day I get the opportunity to come play for the Raiders. And I just couldn’t be more blessed to be in the position in the spot I’m in right now. For me personally, I say leadership really is just doing the right thing whenever you have to. Like it don’t matter if you want to look cool for somebody, just doing whatever you feel like you’re supposed to be doing. Even if your friends, what other just doing whatever you feel like you need to be doing to be on the right track. Right. For me, I’m the oldest of all my siblings and like to the question he said about sacrificing, the biggest sacrifice I made in my life was my family to move my uncle to play football and that was far from me cuz like our younger siblings. So knowing that they look up to me that made me know that I had to constantly keep working and do what I want to do and accomplish. So goals cuz they looking up to me and that’s a prime example of leadership. Number one thing for me is like I’m not going to give up. Like I could be dead tired. I’m going to keep going. And along with those those qualities that we just talked about, like one of my biggest motivators is like making sure that I make my younger self proud. [Music] Like I know that when I was younger, four, like when I started playing football at 4 years old, I wasn’t playing for all these extra accolades or anything. I was playing cuz I was having fun. Just knowing that that’s the thing that keep me going every single day is the number one thing. I can’t settle with, okay, I got drafted. That ain’t going to help me. I got to keep going to get like I want to be a starting receiver here. And I want to play for at least 10 years. So, I had to constantly keep finding a way to get better every single day and not let a little bit of success let me settle in and die out from right there. Dante definitely gives us something different with his speed and size. He’s got a huge upside and a ton of potential, but he’s also got a great eagerness to try to learn. You know, I’ve really been excited about the way he’s attacked the learning process and the learning the playbook. I think he’s had some rough spots in his upbringing, you know, and I think that’s helped shape him into what he is. I think his uncle and and and his family is a big part of what he’s trying to do and what he’s become as a man. And like when I was 9 years old, my dad went to prison for a while and my uncle took me under his wing as a promise he made to my dad. So he filled that void of not having that father figure for me and along with my grandfather. But I say my uncle really just made sure I had everything I needed. And I say he was a big part in me becoming the man I am today based off of the one thing he always took. Like a man has nothing but his word. So I stand firm in that cuz that’s something that he ingrained in me over and over again. He have a a a bond like a uncle and and nephew, you know, but like I say, he’s always been the underdog. Coming from Baltimore, Maryland, a lot of people don’t know it’s it’s either you’re going to be a part of something good or you’re going to be either in jail or or dead. Beating the odds, man, is is is is very satisfying to me. and just him being a college graduate. That’s the most important thing I that’s all I stress to him. And at the end of the day, man, when football is all over, you can have a you can have a profession outside of that. So, I’m I’m so like unconditional love for him, proud of him, and it’s always going to be that. That’s my first born. Like, the bond that we have is is unexplainable. Like, it’s like in a sense we grew with each other cuz I had them when I was younger. But to sum it up, like I tell him all the time, like I will give my last breath. That’s my baby, man. I love the example that he provides. You know, they say you can be the example. You could be the warning. Coming up from where we come from, not everybody makes it, but to see that somebody has and the support that we have for him, he’s a great example for my son. Um my son didn’t make it, but Dante did, and they still friends to this day. uh he’s he hasn’t changed in terms of every relationship. The same thing you hear him saying, he’s a great person. So, we just continue to support her. I’m just happy that for me, I just know I got somebody who always going to have my back and I’m always have his regardless. So, uh that’s that’s big to me. Dante, that’s my brother. I love him with all my heart. I love him cuz like he sets an example for me and I could follow him in his steps and make it to Crow NFL, but I’mma follow him to like the rules of my life. Watch him play games. Watch him do all the stuff so I could follow him. But what’s the most important thing that he did? What’s the number one thing? School first. What’s the rule? It’s for school. No what? C’s. No C’s. Good luck. Good luck, sir. My first football memory, it wasn’t necessarily even playing. Um, my uh my grandfather was really my biggest influence with football. He was a coach back in my hometown. I always just grew up really watching college football with him. he loved college football and uh you know just always hearing from all my you know parents friends and stuff like that about you know his legacy his career and all those things. So it meant a ton to me to obviously go somewhere and have my you know motivation just continue to peak and peak and peak and and to just go work and earn every opportunity I possibly can. You know there’s so many coaches that invested into me and gave me the opportunities [Music] We view him as a receiver that’s going to have a lot of value in the kicking game. Potentially as a returner, as a cover player, maybe he plays some quarterback, too. Um, we’re looking really as an athlete/receiver, but he’s a unique guy. I mean, his testing numbers were through the roof. 441, 40, really high vertical jump. His testing was outstanding. Yeah, he threw routes and then he also ran routes too at the proday. So, I don’t want to pigeon hole him necessarily, but um we think he can do a variety of things. He’s a quarterback with his mindset. So, he knows the big picture of what it’s supposed to look like. Now, it’s just getting his feet and his body to catch up to what his mind is doing cuz it’s a different perspective from being behind the center as you know and then being out in the concept running the routes and kind of understanding that part of it. So, he’s learning, like I said, but he’s really eager to learn, you know, and he’s one of those guys that’s trying super hard to do everything the way you want it to do. I’ve just been able to get some different film study on, you know, guys that made the transition, but I think right off the bat, it was uh pertinent to me to really just watch a quarterback to receiver transition and see what it looked like really early on in their career. It just like it’s my purpose in life to go and compete every single day and try to just, you know, become better and and to honor the God who, you know, allowed me and gave me the body to to go and do this as a vehicle. There’s not another reason why I’m really on this earth, you know, is is to compete and to to continually try to find improvement. [Music] Competition, that’s the name of the game. Compete with yourself to be better than you were 24 hours ago. Compete at everything you do, even off the field. [Music] Okay, Charles. Yeah, I think it does a good job of just, you know, getting everybody out of the, you know, kind of the football setting in the building, letting everybody show their personality a little more and, you know, just being able to connect more on a personal level. Hey. Okay. Huh? You know, whenever you feel like that true connection and bond, you’re going to push that extra mile to make sure you get that job done for them. And that’s the brotherhood we’re building. Chocolate cake or vanilla cake? Huh? What? [Music] I feel like it’s great cuz you build that connection off the field. And if you truly trust and love somebody off the field, when you get on the field, you’re going to do everything you can to play for them. Here at the home of the Raiders, it’s all about mindset. From the top down, everyone in the Silver and Blacks focused on fanning the competitive fire, relishing the thrill of pushing limits, and embracing the love of the fight. It’s a simple mindset. There’s some principles, you know, to behind what we’re doing. We’re going to make something of what is presented to us. So, I want to try to max it out every day, you know, and if I can’t do it, I can’t expect the players to do it. The attitude that you bring on a regular basis to everything that you’re challenged by moment to moment, you know, how are you going to look at it? Are you going to take this as a competitive moment or not? with all of that, you know, it’s it’s got to be competitive. It’s got to be up here. [Applause] Every day is is just another chance to go at it and demonstrate to that we can live on on a really high level and high playing with high expectations and standards. Take it back. Get back. Get back. [Applause] You’re either competing or you’re not. That’s really the mentality that we bring. Next time on Behind the Shield, Raider Nation training camp is finally here. They tap in before they go out. Make a commitment that they’re going to be all in. We’re not setting expectations. Try to win a few games and make some progress. That’s not what we’re doing here. We’re trying to take this as far as you can possibly take it. It’s the only perspective that they have heard from me and and that’s the only one I can even imagine. I can’t think any way else.

On this episode of “Behind The Shield,” the offseason is underway with fresh talent joining the Silver and Black. Head Coach Pete Carroll, linebacker Elandon Roberts and quarterback Geno Smith are setting the tone heading into Training Camp.

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