Raiders/Bears wrap up

One of the perks for the Raiders of playing at “home” Sunday night was that they got to enjoy a first-class locker room at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It was five times as big as the Raiders’ normal digs at the Oakland Coliseum and 10 times as nice. Maybe 20.

It was the perfect place to celebrate a shocking 24-21 win over the Chicago Bears. A giddy Jon Gruden even broke into a little dance when he addressed the team.

Because of the time difference and the late game start, I didn’t have a lot of time to relay in my story Sunday night what the players told me about the win and about being 3-2 heading into the bye week. So I decided to give you my credential and walk you through the postgame locker scene and interviews.

After Gruden told the players that they had the entire week off (as opposed to two to three days of work and the league-mandated four days of away time), he went to talk to reporters and the locker room doors were open to media.

We walked in after we got Gruden and there were easily 100 European reporters and a handful from the States. There was music playing, players were still excitedly talking to each other about the game and many hadn’t showered yet. It was among the top-three happiest locker rooms I have seen in my 10 years covering the team. (The Jack Del Rio Saints win and Tom Cable’s “We’re not losers anymore” win are the others.)

Rodney Hudson
The center and team captain walked by and I stopped him. He is a man of few words but he is a straight shooter and not as grumpy as teammates make him out to be.

“We showed poise,” Hudson said. “We had a good game plan and a good week of practice. They are a good team and they came back and started to make plays. I got no clothes on, dog. I don’t have any clothes on!”

A British cameraman had started filming our conversation, and Hudson was politely telling him to get lost.

“We had plenty of time at the end,” he continued. “I looked at the clock and there were eight minutes left. I knew we would get the job done.”

Gruden mentioned all the cool short-yardage plays that the Raiders used, including a third-and-1 play where the Raiders brought out extra tackle David Sharpe in their jumbo package and not only ran a play-action play, faking a Josh Jacobs run, but Derek Carr looked at tight end Darren Waller before going the other way to rookie Foster Moreau for 23 yards.

“Yeah, it all starts with a plan,” Hudson said. “Then we have to study it and execute it. People were talking about Khalil Mack and that defense coming in and rightfully so. We just happened to have a good plan and everybody executed well.”

He keeps it simple.

Mo Hurst
We headed over to the other side of the locker room looking to avoid the big scrums, and we see Hurst finishing up with a couple of reporters. The defensive tackle had two sacks, the first one ruined by a roughing the passer penalty and the second one celebrated a la Khalil Mack/LeBron James, if anyone noticed.

“I try and use the technique that we are taught and put my head on the side,” Hurst said about being called for throwing his weight on Chase Daniel. “I tried to roll off. I don’t know how to avoid that. If it’s 50-50, I don’t think he should call it. Daniel had the ball in his hand just before I hit him.”

Hurst then started telling teammates that the game should have been a rout, and he noticed rookie Maxx Crosby standing to his right.

“Clelin (Ferrell) is really a big part of our defense and Maxx really stepped up with him out,” Hurst said. “He got his first sack. We have a lot of guys who can play.”

Before we got to Crosby, we took a lay of the land and saw front-office types, trainers and equipment guys hugging players and each other. This team went through the wringer with the Antonio Brown soap opera, and wins the last two weeks after a 1-2 start feel especially good.

Maxx Crosby
The crazy European journalists saw Crosby’s tattoos and maybe they saw him rap online and were convinced the rookie had big plans for the ride home.

“Are you going to party on the plane?” they asked.

“No, I plan to sleep,”

“C’mon, you’re not going to celebrate? A quick party with something to drink, perhaps?”

“No, sleep,” he said, smiling.

Crosby had one of the team’s four sacks (the Raiders had five total coming into the game) and the fourth-round pick has played a lot in the last two wins.

“We turned it around after a couple of tough games and I think we have a great defense,” Crosby said. “Now, we just have to be consistent.”

Carr has 17 fourth-quarter comeback wins now, but this was the first that Crosby has watched.

“It’s definitely nerve-wracking watching on the sidelines, but we all have faith in Derek and our offense,” he said.

Fellow rookie Josh Jacobs won the game with a 2-yard leap into the endzone.

“Josh is special, that is all that needs to be said,” Crosby said.

Trent Brown, Kolton Miller and Richie Incognito
The three offensive linemen were all holding court by their lockers. Miller told reporters that Jacobs is an even better person than a player. After Jacobs lost the ball on a toss from Carr, Jacobs apologized to his teammates on the sideline and said it was OK, he would win the game. And then he and the offensive linemen did.

“We wore them down with our run game,” Miller said. “And that slowed down their pass rush. … We took this challenge personally, that nobody had run the ball against them.”

Incognito found some motivation in Mack’s comments that he was looking forward to playing against his old team.

“Of course we take that personally,” Incognito said. “He was talking about how he was looking forward to playing us and all that stuff. There’s history. We came out and we were physical with him and they didn’t like it.”

Incognito shoved Bears cornerback Buster Skrines’ face in the turf after a play in the first quarter, and while the personal foul may have cost the Raiders a field goal, it was part of the plan.

“We punched them in the mouth and they didn’t like it,” he said. “They were talking a bunch of trash that first drive. We came out that first drive, then punched them in the mouth and all that talk stopped.”

Brown is a man of fewer words.

“We did our job,” he said.

C’mon, man, I said.

“Actually, when we took the field, I thought about the Super Bowl,” Brown said. “We (the Patriots) had to go 95 yards to win the game last year. We did it. And we just did it again. Nobody put their heads down and I am proud of this team.”

Josh Jacobs
Jacobs was the star attraction, and he handled two waves of reporters with patience. In London, reporters apparently ask for players to sign their game programs and to take selfies with them, and the man of the hour was cool with all of it.

On that last 97-yard drive, Jacobs said he was in the huddle constantly saying, “It’s time. This is when great players show up.”

Erik Harris
We saved the best for last, and strolled over to the defensive backs corner of the room. Harris, the safety, gained the biggest 4 yards of the night, on the fake punt from the Raiders’ 27-yard line with 5:48 left.

And here’s the thing. The Bears knew it was coming.

“I was definitely nervous, because they put all of their big guys in there,” Harris said. “And all these big guys are yelling, ‘Watch the fake! Don’t jump offside!’ So I am standing there, listening to them and all of a sudden, it’s set, hike … and I’m like ‘Oh, shoot, it’s happening’ and the ball is in my hands.

“Yeah, it’s definitely nerve-wracking.”

Harris had last run the ball in high school, which you could tell — as he only had one hand on the ball.

He picked up 4 yards but fumbled the ball as he was tackled. The call was reversed, though, as replays clearly showed his elbow hitting the turf before the ball came out.

“I knew I was down,” Harris said. “I didn’t mean to scare everybody. I was down. I was just going for the TV timeout.”

He let out a big laugh.

Derek Carr
I wanted to check in with linebacker Nicholas Morrow, who I thought played very well, but the call had gone out that Carr was headed to the podium next door to talk.

Carr talked about Mack, but that latest chapter is over now. He talked again about how much he enjoyed the London experience — this is his third trip and first win — and having tea at the soccer match last Tuesday. But the last impression here is going to be that 97-yard drive to win it — and how 86 of the 97 yards were gained by the rookies Jacobs, Moreau and Hunter Renfrow. In London against a top defense and a hostile crowd.

“I think we just had a mature, young football team, to be honest,” Carr said. “Our young guys are really talented. It’s really nice to have that. We’re a better football team this year than we were last year. Coach built a solid foundation. …

“The cool thing about it now is I could see it last year, we’re going to be awesome, I know it. I know we’ll be able to play in big games and beat people. That said, no one else believed him, except the people in our building and that’s all that matters.”

It’s fitting that we give the last word on the trip to Gruden. He has complained and made countless sarcastic comments about playing in London, Winnipeg and London again the last two years, but now here he is. Gruden not only got the win, but also enjoyed the week-long experience and playing in the beautiful, new stadium.

Except for one thing.

“I thought the crowd was much more for the Bears, though, it really disappointed me,” Gruden said. “All the people in London, we’ll be back.”