Good Morning Nation! Silver and Black Pride is proud to bring you the 2nd installment in the series, Talkin' With Tyvon from Raiders starting strong safety, Tyvon Branch.
Pose your new questions to Tyvon in the comments section and he will do his best to get as many of them answered as quickly as possible:
Thanks for all the great questions. It is great to see the passion you guys have for Raider football. I am sure most of you all know by now that our defense acquired a great player over the weekend, Richard Seymour. It is going to be fun playing with and seeing his talent. He is a player that will allow us to do some different things in the secondary. Some of the questions were about the game last week. It is awesome that you fans look at the game in such detail. We had a great week at practice, and are really looking forward to getting out there and playing. The preseason gave us some excellent film. We know what we need to work on to get ready for the Chargers. I will be back soon to answer some questions. Go Raiders!!
TB
Below, Tyvon answers some of the questions posed from our Community during last week's posting:
what great Raider do you most see yourself as? by patriotguy2 on Aug 31, 2009 4:52 AM PDT
TB: Jack Tatum is a legendary Raider who always played fierce. He is someone that I model my game after.
Thanks so much for doing this. It shows what a great professional athlete you are and now I’m a even bigger fan.
Do you think Mike Mitchell, as your backup, will have any impact on the team this year? And how would he be at the free spot? by dram5780 on Aug 31, 2009 9:06 AM PDT
TB: Mike is an excellent player. He has all the tools to be a star in this league. I look forward to seeing him grow as we all master the defensive schemes, and get more experience. We are young guys, and every game we play is a learning experience. As far as him playing at the free spot that is up to the coaches. Like I said he is a tremendous athletes, and I am sure he will excel wherever he is asked to play.
Thanks Mr. Branch- you have earned a lifelong fan.
What I want to know is:
What is the mood of the team this week?
TB: The mood of the team is always one that strives to learn and achieve more. We are a hungry group of individuals, and look forward to what we do each day.
What was the major reason the Raiders looked as ill-prepared and over-matched as they did on Saturday and what can the team do to prevent that from happening again?
TB: Ill prepared might be a bit strong. The preseason is an opportunity for teams to experiment with different sets and personnel on both sides of the ball. Granted we did not perform up to our abilities, it was an opportunity to see some things on film we might not have seen otherwise.
What do you enjoy more, laying a big hit on someone or picking off a pass? by noontide on Aug 31, 2009 10:45 AM PDT
TB: That’s a tough one. They both have their upside. A big hit is something that really energizes me and gets the team going. An interception is a great way to change the game though. Those two are something I cannot pick between. I will strive to have as many big hits and picks this year.
First of all i think its great your here to answer our questions knowing your here for the fans but just a couple of questions on defense
in the passing game how is the team correcting some of the mental errors that occurred during the saints game is just film study or situational in practice
TB: Both. At this point we can learn a greater amount from film study. It allows us to see the plays from different angles, and with film we can go over why certain things occurred. We study hours of film each week, and then the goal is to fix it in the film room then reenact it on the practice field. It would be very hard to have one with out the other. Both are very valuable.
also with the run d what’s up with dat is there really any improvement you’ve seen in practice that you feel will work during the regular season any blitz packages maybe involving the safeties coming up into the box or what?
TB: We are working on some different schemes that will hopefully fill some holes. We also just got Richard Seymour. He is an excellent addition that will no doubt help us.
Last the offense what do see in the passing game with JaMarcus and the receivers around him will this be the year he shows he is our qb of the future and with heyward bey do you have confidence in him to a be reliable receiver? by Shadow Soldier on Aug 31, 2009 11:22 AM PDT via mobile
TB: JaMarcus is a great player. He is really grasping the offense and with some new additions like DHB look for some explosion in the passing game.
1) When did you realize you possessed incredible speed?
TB: When I started out running everyone ha. In reality, I first realized my speed in track meets. Then it spilled over to the football field.
2) Are you still going to be the gunner on our Special Teams? Even if you start?TB: Right now being a gunner is something that I really like to do. Special teams are a great way to change the games, so wherever I am asked to play I will go out and try to make big plays.
3) Can you make more visits here at Silver And Black Pride? We love you here.TB: Just keep the questions coming. Soon I will be answering them in the comments section as you ask them.
Thank You, by Rayder K on Aug 30, 2009 10:24 PM PDT
Look for installment #3 next week of Talkin' With Tyvon where Tyvon will provide a little insight to the Raiders' regular season opener.