Notable Quotables: Oakland Raiders Wild Card Week

“Well, I got to know him over the Pro Bowl, and he’s a good kid,” Reid said via quotes from the Chiefs. “I’m all about everybody being healthy and let’s go have the best team win type thing. I don’t wish injuries on anybody. I’d rather have everybody out there, and let’s figure out who’s the best team that way. So, my heart goes out to him, but he’ll have a lot of good years ahead of him as he goes here.”

“First off, talking about Derek Carr I gotta give him a shoutout because I know you’re watching Derek.”

“Once we break training camp, I’m taking 99.9 percent of them because that’s what I feel I need to prepare to play the game,” Carr said during his weekly appearance on 95.7-FM. “I say (99.9) because I don’t remember not taking a rep, (but I might’ve) so I don’t want to lie.”

“We’ll be ready to roll,” Del Rio said. “We’ll shift into playoff mode. That’s what we talked about, you get what you earn. We wanted to win the division but we didn’t earn that. We won 12 games and we earned a spot in the playoffs. We’re looking forward to it.”

“Either way you’re know you’re dealing with a tough situation, a backup. A third stringer even,” Del Rio said in a press conference on CSN Bay Area. “For us it’s so much more important that we focus on 2nd and 13 not giving up a 63 yard run, and 3rd and 18 not giving up a 43 yard touchdown on a screen pass. Those are the ways we can help the quarterbacks. Their going to give us the best they can, and we’ve gotta play better around them.”

“We’ll do the best we can to prepare him,” Del Rio said. “The great thing about it is he’s been here, been in our system, mentally been engaged in what we do and how we do it all year. I’m sure he’ll lean on the majority of that.

“There’s only so much you can catch up all at once. At the end of the day, you don’t try and have him go around the clock here. He wouldn’t be at his best. We’ll manage the process of preparing him and giving him what he needs. We’ll get ourselves ready to go play.”

“I was pretty calm, given the circumstances,” Cook said before Wednesday’s practice. “I know the offense well. I’ve been in the system almost a year now. It was actually fun to go out there and get some reps.”

“You just go out there and play,” Cook said. “There are nerves at the beginning, but that goes away quickly. You get hit. You get knocked down, and all that other stuff kind of goes away. Playing at Michigan State, we played in some big-time games there. I’m going to try and take whatever I did there and put it to use out there on Saturday.”

“He’s been in the spotlight,” Dantonio said Wednesday on NFL Network. “I know it’s an elevated level of play and it’s all relative and everything, but he’s played on a big stage and he’s had a lot of anxiety, big-game jitters and things like that and he’s played very, very well in those games. I think that’s going to serve him as well as anything as he takes this opportunity and has an opportunity play this weekend.”

“There’s definitely an adjustment phase for all staff, but fortunately Connor has been here all year. He’s been part of the process. Been pretty much just like we would with any other QB, whether it be Derek or Matt last week. We’ve had a good week. It’s been condensed. Had a good day today and we’re looking forward to having more preparation, of course, once we get down there tomorrow and even the day of the game.”

“I’m going to go out there,” Cook said, “let it all hang out and have fun with my teammates.”

“First half, we just weren’t playing assignment football,” Bruce Irvin said. “They ran everything we went over the whole week and we didn’t execute. They gassed us.”

“They were a little mad about their situation. You could tell out there on the field,” Mack said. “At this point, it’s really not an option — we have to hold our own. It comes down to defense winning championships. That’s what we know. Going against a team like that, in Houston, it will be a big challenge for us. We’ve got to step up to it.

“That wasn’t championship effort,” Mack said. “At all.”

“It’s win or go home. It’s nut-cutting time,” said Mack, using an expression that means it’s time to step things up. “We’re ready to go down there and have our best game of the year.”

“I definitely have a bad taste in my mouth, and I am grateful for this opportunity” Mack said. “I can’t wait.”

“Our defense needs to step up and play at a high level,” Del Rio said. “We’ve sputtered throughout the year and had our moments, but we have not put together a complete game yet. It would be real nice to get that starting Saturday.”

“There is no next week,” Irvin said. “We have to leave it all out there, play all our best players. There’s definitely a sense of urgency.”