SAN DIEGO–Jack Del Rio was obviously a very happy coach after Sunday’s playoff-clinching victory over the Chargers.

He even admitted he took a moment or two on the sidelines as the clock ticked down to enjoy it–before turning his mind immediately to the next game and the next challenge.

Basically summed up by this introductory comment of his: “Happy to have punched a ticket to the postseason.”

Here are some more snippets from Del Rio’s postgame presser…

-Del Rio on Raiders owner Mark Davis: “He’s really allowed Reggie (McKenzie) and I to do the things that we need to do to make this franchise great again.”

-On respect for the Chargers: “I think you come into a game like this and you don’t have that kind of respect and you’re not ready to strain and work for 60 minutes, you get your butts whupped. So I really appreciate our guys’ ability to work the way they need to work each and every day, and that’s what we’re going to do.

“We’ve got a couple more opportunities and then we’ll add ’em up and see if we did well enough to earn whatever rank or spot that is. But we know we’re going to be in and I’m very proud of that.”

-Did he take a moment to celebrate? “Yeah, I like to have a good time, you know? I like to smile and enjoy it.

“But I also keep the proper perspective–it’s important for us to do that. But no doubt, I’m super-pleased that we earned our way in with a victory today in the division and against a tough opponent. Yes, I’m very happy and proud about that.”

-On being a guy from Hayward getting this team back to the playoffs after 14 years: “I’m proud of that. We have designs on more. But I’m certainly proud of us earning our way back. I talk to our guys all the time about you get what you earn in this league and so far we’ve earned a postseason berth and now over the next couple of weeks we’ll determine exactly where that happens to be.”

-Were you aware that Kansas City lost right before your game giving you back the top spot in the AFC West for now with a win? “We were aware of it.”

-Does KC’s loss make this victory more special: “Not really. I guess at the end of the day it does, but for us, it’s not going to change how we do things. That’s why I talked about what we’re most in control of is the effort that we give, recovering and preparing and competing. And that’s what’s got us in this position.”

-Nice to have Janikowski making field goals? “I’m certainly glad we got the points that we lined up for. That’s the bottom line.

“We’d like to get seven–we got points when we lined up for them. We’ve been really good–we were red-hot at one point in the Red Zone. We’ve cooled off recently and certainly today. I think 1 for 6 before the last kneel-down. So that’s not what we’re looking for.”

-On the two Red Zone turnovers: “I thought we were moving the ball and playing pretty good football. But a turnover when you’re in the low Red is tough.

“The good news is outside of the first drive when we let one get over the top of us, I thought we were pretty solid throughout the day against Philip (Rivers) and the way they push the ball down the field.”

-On the heavily pro-Raiders crowd at Qualcomm: “Yeah, Raider Nation showed up. It was pretty awesome to see. It had to be at least 60-70%. I don’t know what the numbers were but a lot of black shirts out there, a lot of Silver & Black, a lot of pride and a lot of happy people right now.”

–On what he was thinking o n the challenge on Carr’s fourth-quarter run that got them a first down: “One, let’s take our time, get a good look, we thought he made it. So we bought some time; we were going to call a timeout anyway. So rather than call a timeout and set the play, let’s use the timeout as a challenge. We did all of that and we got it.”

–On Bruce Irvin’s leadership: “Well, today the way he got around to the quarterback was the best part about it. But I think from the moment Bruce arrived, he and Khalil had a natural competition or natural kind of bond where they’re two alpha males, they’re going to push each other really hard every day and compete every day. So Bruce has been tremendous for us, really a great addition to the football team.”

–On running the ball late in both halves and if that’s all about his offensive line: “Thought we had an opportunity to hit some of those today and certainly you’re showing the offensive line that you believe in them any time you run the ball.”

-First and goal to set up the FG to tie, were you disappointed you couldn’t punch it in and were thinking about going for it on fourth before you lost two yards on third? “Yeah, that took away the going for it. Had we stayed there, probably would have. But going backwards there was a no-brainer to take the points.”

-Is it an issue to be on shotgun on goal-line situations? “Yeah, it’s somewhat of an issue. It’s not ideal. Being completely honest about it, it’s an issue that we’re working through. But it’s the way we’re choosing to work through it right now. At some point (when) we’ll feel better about going under center, we will. But until then, we’ll execute the best we can out of the formations we feel most comfortable.”

-On David Amerson’s play on third-and-2 late in the game to stop a Chargers series: “He was tracking his guy. We knew what we were going to get on that route–they like that little pick route and he did a great job as a veteran of getting over the top of the pick and coming down hill with some speed and authority and making that stop.”