From Raiders Training Camp: OT Thayer Munford

 Tackle Thayer Munford 

Q: Thayer, we've seen you get a lot of reps with the first team out there the last few days. Do you feel like you're making a move to potentially be a starter in this league? 

Thayer Munford: "Yeah, I think I am. But also at the same time, it also comes down to the competition that we got in the room. Like I can be my best, Jermaine [Eluemunor], Brandon Parker, we can be at our best but also at the same time, we are all hear to compete. We all want to get the starting job, but also at the same time, we know what's ahead. We all need to compete and stay focused." 

Q: Did you prepare this offseason like you wanted to emerge as the starting right tackle? 

Munford: "Yeah, of course. Nobody is going to come in here thinking that they're about to have the position off rip, but at the same time we have talented tackles in the room, and we know what's going on, and we know how the business side goes. So, we're going to compete every day." 

Q: In college you know the depth chart, you know where your spot is, but when you're going against Brandon Parker and Jermaine Eluemunor every day, how much do you have to keep top of mind every rep is a tryout? 

Munford: "Every day is a tryout. We go against Maxx [Crosby] every day, and that itself is already a game. With us, we just keep our head down, but also keep it up at the same time. Like, 'Alright it's time to go'. We can't really worry about the past, we can't worry about last year, we can't worry about in the future of this year. We've got to focus on now, that's all it is." 

Q: A lot of times, people say the biggest jump for a pro is between year one and two. How much better do you think you are now than you were when last season ended? 

Munford: "I feel like I'm pretty well conditioned for it, but there's always room to improve. Maxx [Crosby] got me a couple times today, and I appreciate that, but it's also something I need to work on too. Everybody needs to work on something, Jermaine [Eluemunor ], us. Like us as a whole offensive line, we all need to work on something. It's not just like from my first season to this season. We all just need to work on stuff." 

Q: It looks like from vantage point it can be kind of hell lining up against Maxx Crosby every day. It's got to get kind of frustrating. How do you keep your head? What's it like? 

Munford: "It can be frustrating of course, but at the same time we know who Maxx [Crosby] is. We know who we're about to go against every day, like it's nothing new. Everybody sees that he's top 20 in the league right now, but also at the same time, we all want to respect each other. That's all it is." 

Q: What's been the biggest difference between practice this year as opposed to last year? It seems like there's a little bit of an uptick and a little bit more up tempo. 

Munford: "I think everybody is a lot more confident. We're a lot more confident as a whole group, as a whole team. And we know what we got to do. We can't just focus on last year. That's one thing we need to work on, is don't focus on last year, focus on the present. Focus on what we need to do right here, right now." 

Q: When we talked to you last year, you had mentioned that in this game of football, at the level that you play it at, there's mental challenges and confidence that you have to kind of battle within yourself. How do you feel like you've grown in that particular area? 

Munford: "I feel that I've grown a lot because last year as a rookie, my eyes were like wide open. And I'm just sitting there going against Maxx [Crosby], I was like, 'I've been hearing about him since I was a sophomore,' and now going against him every day, trying to get better, doing the right things, getting my body right of course. Like me mentally as far as my second year, I'm a lot more on top of my body than anything." 

Q: I can notice that you look different compared to last year. What did you do? 

Munford: "Just really focused on myself and focused on my mental. I take the mental thing a lot more serious than others because last year I was in a dark place by like Week Six, because it was just a lot for me. So, me taking the time, giving everything to God, taking my time to God, that actually like helped me push through the day. It helps out a lot." 

Q: Without trying to get too personal, was it because you weren't playing as much as you wanted to or just other stuff in life? 

Munford: "It was just other stuff in life that I wasn't used to. In college, you always got sheltered a lot more because you're still a young man trying to grow up. And right now as a man, you're supposed to know everything, what's going on and how to manage that with work and with family life." 

Q: Last year you told me about speed, power conversion transitioning from college to the NFL was what you expected. One thing that was unexpected going into your rookie year was working on your core strength. What types of things did you do this year to kind of get you prepared for the upcoming season? 

Munford: "Really just worked out as hard as I can. I pushed myself a lot harder. And that's all it was, just pushed myself mentally and physically, that's all it is." 

Q: How have you evolved as a player in the film room in just learning to maybe take the nuances behind the scenes? How have you evolved? 

Munford: "Basically just looking on, personnel wise, who I'm going against. Like, for the next couple of weeks, I'm going against Maxx [Crosby]. What does he like to do? Does he like the speed rush a lot or speed to bull or something along those lines, and just understanding how the offense is and how the defense works around our offense. It makes things a lot easier to understand." 

Q: Was there a moment last season where, I guess to use your example, your eyes got smaller when you kind of settled down a little bit or did that not happen until the offseason? 

Munford: "To be honest, that didn't happen until I got put in at Denver, the second game. The second Denver game last year at Denver. Everything just started to slow down a lot. I was like, 'Okay, I can play here.' It's something that I had to get used to of course, nothing is going to be easy. We've got great opponents that we're going against in the next couple weeks. But just stay on my course and stay our course as a team." 

Q: You're also competing with Jermaine Eluemunor for that right tackle spot, how is that dynamic with you guys? Are you guys helping each other out? Are you trash talking? How do you guys get along? 

Munford: "Man, me and him, he's kind of like my big brother. He kind of took me under his wing when I was struggling with certain stuff personally. And this year, we're competing for the same spot and nothing has changed. Sometimes we get down in the dumps, but we're there to pick each other up. We're not trash talking, we're here to help out each other to become a better person and a better player on the football field." 

The Silver and Black open the preseason by hosting the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Aug. 13, at 4 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. PDT.

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