Raiders DT Tonka Hemingway's Off-Season Gains & Year 2 Mentality Shift

Thu, Aug 6, 2026

Video Transcript

Are you seeing, are you feeling the work you did on the weight room this summer translating on the field to make you feel stronger?

Uh, yeah, I, I think, I think it is a lot, you know, uh, college, you know, I had a little ups and downs in college.

I wasn't able to like probably to make it through like a whole offseason and everything here and there, uh, but this year I made through the whole offseason, I feel, I feel real better.

What's the biggest shift in your mentality, would you say going from your rookie year trying to adjust the now to where you can perform this way?

Uh, first, uh, I'm not a rookie no more, so I just changed the whole mentality.

Now you can't go out there and really look like a rookie, you know, you might have mistakes here and there, but you gotta be able to correct those mistakes and, uh, go like as you as a vet.

Was there any specific thing that really helped it kind of slow down for you that's made your focus clearer as this season comes in?

I'll probably just say listening to all the vets, all the older guys.

Been doing it and everything, you just telling you to like trust yourself, like you're here for a reason, uh, and you, and you can do this.

There's, there's been a lot of changes with this team with head coach, a bunch of other stuff with new guys coming in.

There's been quite a bit of continuity though at your position and Robbie Leonard still being the DC and coaching you guys.

How do you feel like kind of not having that change has helped you kind of grow in year two?

I think, I think it helps a lot, you know , having like the same people around, you know, uh, it keeps, it keeps everything like the same verbiage and everything.

So I'll probably say that it helps with like taking me.

So you don't have to, uh, change what you're doing.

What have you seen from Coach Kubiak that's truly resonated with you since this time being here?

Uh, Coach Kubiak, you know, he said the other day he had like, you know, a dull personality.

I think at times I do too.

Like I , I get straight to the point.

I may just answer your questions and just be like, just be like, yeah, don't say too much.

But, uh, I think like we like the same personalities.

We just wanna get our job done.