New head coach Pete Carroll has made it his personal mission in his first year with the Las Vegas Raiders to re-establish a winning culture, or at least build the foundations of one.
While some veterans opted to head elsewhere in free agency, others firmly believed that Carroll was the coach that could restore the Raiders to their former glory. One of those players was linebacker Elandon Roberts, the former Pittsburgh Steeler who signed a one-year contract with the Raiders in March. Being a two-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots, Roberts knows the ingredients needed to create the culture Carroll wants to build.
Not only does Roberts understand that, but he knows he will play a big role in making it all happen.
Roberts is hoping his championship experience factors in to his success with his new team.
Roberts has played with the likes of Bill Belichick in New England and Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh, but he says that Carroll is different in the way he operates.
“They’ve all been champions,” Roberts said, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Adam Hill. “I think the one thing that does make them all the same is they’ve all been there, and they all have held that Lombardi (Trophy), so they know what it takes. But Pete is in his own lane. Pete is leading in his own way with his energy, his desire, his standard. It’s like, ‘Hey, get on this train, because if you’re not on this train, we’re gonna find somebody else to do it,’ and it just is what it is.”
Now wearing the green dot for defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s defense, Roberts is going to be tasked with providing leadership for a new-look unit.
With his predecessor in Robert Spillane playing 97 percent of defensive snaps over the last two seasons, Roberts is going to be on the field in every situation. The two have communicated regularly throughout the offseason, and the two appear to be on the same page early on. For a Raiders defense that still has some questions, keeping that line of communication strong will be vital.
“If I’m not every day in here with the mindset of leading my room, being that leader on the defense, being the green dot, bringing the juice every day to make sure that we’re at the standard that we need to be at, then I’m just cheating the process,” Roberts added. “And that’s one thing that I harp on myself every day I wake up. Once I hit those doors, I’m like, ‘Let’s go.’”
Roberts is embracing the ‘always compete’ mindset that Carroll has pushed throughout his time as a coach, which should make him a favorite of the staff all season long.
