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Oakland Raiders interim Head Coach Tom Cable addressed the media immediately following Thursday's practice session at the team's Alameda, Calif., facility as the Silver and Black head into the bye week and get ready to play the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, October 12 at the Louisiana Superdome.

Coach Cable: Today was an awesome practice.

Q: What separated it from yesterday and normal practices?

A: Little better focus, a little more sharpness on both sides of the ball. I was out for special teams and they got a ton of work done. I didn’t realize they were getting that much work done. But as good as they are playing it didn’t surprise me. That was impressive, very impressive.

Q: How is it to have the extra week to get used to being in this position?

A: It’s good, I think it’s good for all of us. Whenever you go through something like that, it’s good to have a little time to take a deep breath. We talked to them about when you come back, come back with your mind right. Go away this weekend, enjoy your family and kids, that’s it. When we come back it’s a 12-week grind, so it’s good to have the extra week for the coaches and players.

Q: About passing, can we see more from JaMarcus Russell like last game?

A: What you’re going to see is balanced offense. That’s the key. Whether that means more passing or not I don’t know. You might see a series or two where it’s all pass or all run. I think we have to be more balanced. We do run the football, so there’s a lot of people in the box so you’ve got to take your shots.

Q: Is coaching what you always wanted to do, and can you tell us about your entry into it?

A: There’s two people: Dick Armstrong who was my high school coach, and Keith Gilbertson, Sr. Those two guys had the greatest influence on me wanting to be a teacher and a coach but I always wanted to do it. I grew up thinking that I wanted to do it. It’s always been my dream, always been my passion.

Q: How much passion do you have for the running game and working with the offensive line?

A: I do have great passion. I played that spot so I can really understand them and how much they go through, what they put their bodies through. You have to kind of oil them up and keep pushing them. I do understand that. Without question this is a tremendous passion for me. I always want to be a part of that.”

Q: How much did you work with Greg Knapp on calling plays and your relationship in Atlanta?

A: I think I’m very blessed to have him here because we went through a year together. In between series we’d talk about doing ‘this and this’ and give it to me in that order. He was great, and I look forward to that dynamic. It’s in tact, in place and we can really go after it together. I look forward to that.

Q: How itchy do you see him to be able to call plays. That is something he’s always done?

A: We talked about it the last couple of days and he is certainly excited about it.  The nice thing is he has called a lot of plays in a lot of big games. You know he’s been in San Francisco and in the playoffs, he’s been in Atlanta and they were in the playoffs, he went all the way to NFC Championship game so he’s called games when something was really, really big on the line and you know that is not like any other weekend in the NFL. You know. To have that experience there I think is going to be awesome.

Q: Do you see this team as being close to being a contender?

A: Yeah I do. I don’t have any question in my mind. First thing we have to do is learn how to win, then we have to learn how to handle winning. We compete hard, I think that’s obvious. That’s step one. Step two is learn how to win. We need to win in the fourth quarter. Once that happens we need to learn how to handle winning because it hasn’t happened for a while. You don’t just go out and win a few games and think everything’s all rosy because it can blow up on you. There’s still a process that you have to get through. Right now it’s about learning how to win games and finish games in the fourth quarter.

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To me Cable seems like the real deal. I'm still loving this move.