Rookie does his job well
Unleashed strong safety Joseph paced defense with 10 tackles
NASHVILLE — The Raiders finally unleashed Karl Joseph and the rookie strong safety held up admirably in Sunday’s 17-10 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Joseph led the Raiders with 10 tackles, and the only touchdown the Titans scored came during the one series in which he didn’t play.
“I’m not going to say the touchdown was because I wasn’t out there,” said Joseph, who was cramping at halftime and stayed in the locker room to get some fluids through an IV. “I think it was just about doing my job, so I wasn’t trying to do too much or do anything extra but just doing my job. If everybody does their job, it shows how dominant we can be on defense.”
Joseph didn’t have any big impact plays, but he was solid throughout the day and this was a chance for him to get adjusted to NFL play.
“The game started slowing down as series went on,” Joseph said. “It felt like we did a great job. We were locked in all week and it showed.”
Raiders coach Jack Del Rio was happy with some of what he saw.
“My eyes told me that he did some good things,” Del Rio said. “I’m sure there will be things that weren’t perfect but I thought he
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Look online for more indepth Raiders’ coverage. WWW.MERCURYNEWS.COM/ RAIDERS gave us, throughout the whole week and the way we played and the way the defense played, I thought he gave us a little bit of a spark.”
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr liked what he saw.
“He played aggressive,” Carr said. “He was trying to fly in there. I saw one time he was a blur up there on the screen flying in there trying to knock somebody out. The guy barely moved in time otherwise it would’ve been a bad one.”
Joseph had one opportunity to blitz, but Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota escaped and scrambled. He was tracked down on the play by Bruce Irvin, who forced a fumble that Reggie Nelson recovered.
“I probably went a little too deep, allowed him to move up in the hole,” Joseph said. “Good thing we got a fumble on it. The coaching point for me, I’ve just got to be able to come back underneath that back and make a sack.”
Raiders linebackers n Malcolm Smith and Bruce Irvin joined the leaguewide protests on Sunday when both raised their right fist during the national anthem.
Smith said he was something he decided to do “in the moment.”
“You shouldn’t feel like you’re oppressed by anybody,” Smith said, “and I’m just thankful this organization is supportive enough to let us express ourselves and be ourselves and stand behind us and support us.”
Irvin did not address the media in the locker room.
“I would’ve hoped … that it would’ve been brought up ahead of time so we could be all involved in one thing or another,” Del Rio said. “As I said earlier when this whole thing started, I respect everybody’s opinion to express themselves. That’s what we have as Americans, we have that right. I would just like to see us as a team do things together and united.
“I support their freedom. I also deeply respect our flag and the people that sacrifice for our country and make it what it is. I think it’s an awesome place. We get to enjoy things like football on Sunday.”
Right tackle Menelik n Watson, who returned after missing last week’s game with a groin injury, left the game in the second quarter with a right calf injury. He sent out a pair of tweets during the game showing his frustration from suffering yet another injury. One tweet: “minor setbacks won’t beat me.”