Raiders TE Ian Thomas Special Teams & Faith Insights

Mon, Aug 24, 2026

Video Transcript

More, when you look at how much time they spend on special teams, a lot of coaches talk about it, but I mean the amount of time designated for it says a lot.

Your thoughts on Joe De Millis?

You're talking about a 25 minute period.

Um, it's good, you know, um, time on task, right?

They say to be great at something you need a lot of time on task, and, and that's what, that's what he's doing, and I love it.

Um, the more you can see all of these different looks, the, the better and more confident you feel.

You don't feel rushed, you don't feel a lot of pressure, right?

So, um, yeah, Jody, he's, he's putting a lot of guys in crazy positions.

You've seen a bunch of different stuff from around the league.

Um, you know, and he's coached a while, you know, he's seen a lot of stuff, and, um, you never doubt when someone like that tells you what to do, and you're like, well, he, you know, he knows something, and that's, um, it's good to get the younger guys to like actually acknowledge that part of it.

So yeah, cool, um, you mentioned Fernando, you know, a memory from watching the circus, I'm on the bus, um, and obviously he's not the only one on the team that is, is a person of faith.

How does that help you through the ups and the downs, um, of the It keeps you grounded, right?

Like you have something to, to fall back on when things aren't going great, whether that's, um, I don't know, you're, you're, you're talking to your wife or your pastor, you know, we have different people that come in the building um to uh talk to us or give us service because obviously yesterday was Sunday and we was in here practicing so you can't really get out to go to church.

Um, and my, uh, my mother-in-law just sent me something yesterday.

It was pretty funny.

Um, the church in Fayetteville where my wife is from, we're just talking about trusting God and, um, you know, I don't know, just a bunch of stuff that, you know, you get sent these things on Sundays and obviously we play Sundays, so you can't, uh, go to church.

But uh the more you can be in your faith is, is, is better, right?

Then when things get tough, it's like, well, what, where do I turn now because during the week it's like, well, you can't really go to Bible study on Wednesdays because Wednesdays are usually the harder days or you get out 4 or 5 p.m.

So, um, yeah, it's been great with um everyone in the building kind of supporting each other and then pushing guys to fit more faith-based things.

Um, I don't know, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's been pretty good in my life, so I, I try to, you know, push it around the tight end room like, hey guys, like I think you guys should go to chapel this weekend on Saturdays, you know, so it's been pretty good.