Below is a partial transcript from Antonio Pierce’s Friday presser:

Q: I understand that Aidan O’Connell wasn’t able to practice yesterday. Do you think he’ll be able to practice today, and do you feel like there’s enough time for him to be able to get out there?

Coach Pierce: “Well one, I think it is enough time because we got an extra day, so that really helps us this week. He won’t go today in practice. He’s getting better though. He is improving, and we’ll just take it throughout the week and see as we get closer to Monday night.”

Q: What does it come down to? Isit pain threshold, Aidan O’Connell’s ability to kind of be able to protect himself out there, or all of the above?

Coach Pierce: “Really all of the above, honestly. Don’t want to put a player out there that’s hurt that can then become injured and now you’ve got something that’s long-term. Knock on wood, we avoided that Sunday. So he’s coming along. He’s fighting his tail off in there with our trainers and doing a good job there. And listen, he’s a warrior, he wants to play. So if he has opportunity to play, he’ll play.”

Q: Is there a point at which, even if Aidan O’Connell could potentially be healthy, that Desmond Ridder has got enough reps and enough preparation that you would just say it should be Desmond to go?

Coach Pierce: “Well with Desmond [Ridder], here’s the crazy part. Last week, Thursday, because Aidan [O’Connell] didn’t practice cause of sickness, he got all those reps, and then look what happened in the game, right? So yesterday, he got a lot of reps. He’ll get the majority of the reps today, and we’ll just take it day by day. But the way our season’s gone, all our quarterbacks are ready to go, so we’ve got to get them ready to go.”

Q: If Desmond Ridder does go, and he’s going up against his former team, do you remember going up against your former team and maybe the added juice that comes with it?

Coach Pierce: “Yeah, you’ve got to take the emotional part out of it. It’s not Desmond [Ridder] versus the Atlanta Falcons. It’s the Raiders versus the Atlanta Falcons, and he understands that. Listen, just do your job as a quarterback. We don’t need you to be Superman and go out there and win it by yourself. It’s a team sport. Understand what we’re trying to do with the game plan, if it is Desmond. But more importantly, don’t make it an individual matchup, right? That’s in your past. You’ve moved on, got a great opportunity here. Worry about that.”

Q: How nice is it to have Nate Hobbs back out at practice, and barring any setbacks is he trending in the right direction?

Coach Pierce: “Yeah, he’s trending in a really good direction. Practiced all day yesterday. He did really good, very fluid. Had a good walkthrough right here. We’ll see how he comes out today, but I’d anticipate him playing, starting and giving us that boost we really need in the secondary.”

Q: The Falcons have historically struggled against tight ends of various talent levels. Obviously, Brock Bowers is probably going to do what Brock does, but can you see maybe more expanded roles for the other tight ends on the team?

Coach Pierce: “Yeah, all of them. I think, again, last week is a great example, when the team goes all out to try to take away Brock [Bowers], Big Mike [Michael Mayer] shows up, right? And that’s going to be the same thing throughout the season. 12 personnel is our best personnel. And they’ve got to find ways to match up, and we got to find ways to keep moving Brock around and being creative with him because we’ve got to feed him the ball. Because when we do that, good things happen for the Raiders.”

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