Gruden: Khalil Mack Didn’t Want To Play Here

   September 10, 2018

Jon Gruden is finally opening up about Khalil Mack’s holdout and trade. If you’ve been following along for the past few weeks, the theory around here is that Gruden was, more than anything else, sick of dealing with Mack and his agent.

On ESPN today, Gruden talked about the team’s standoff with Mack and there’s no question he didn’t appreciate the way Mack handled the final year of his contract.

“Obviously, Khalil Mack didn’t want to play here,” Gruden said of his departed superstar.

“That’s what’s being missed here. He was under contract. He never showed up for an OTA, he never showed up for training camp, and it was obvious he wasn’t going to show up for the season… we have to get ready to play and I want players that want to be here, that want to help us put this thing back in high gear.”

Agree with Gruden or not, his most recent comments seem to reflect a lot more about how aggravated he had become with the former defensive MVP of the league.

Going all the way back to when Mack wouldn’t take Gruden’s calls, the train never got off on the right track between coach and player… and Gruden wasn’t willing to sit around and wait for the situation to improve on its own. The sides can go back and forth about money all they want, but this was as much about lack of communication (and egos to some degree) as anything else – because Mack, I believe, didn’t really want to be traded.

twitter: @raidersbeat

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10 thoughts on “Gruden: Khalil Mack Didn’t Want To Play Here”

  1. The Raiders did right by Mack by trading him and letting him get his money. It hurt to watch him last night but we have so many holes that paying Mack that much money would be a bad decision. I see both sides but in the end, it’s over. Hopefully the Bears keep losing and we get a high draft pick we can turn it into something.

  2. Yeah, Chucky is just trying to cover his bright red *** since he already looked bad when Mack walked and worse now after game 1 in which both Mack and the Bears looked good .

      1. And you and all the other battered Raidahs fans, who just keep taking all the hits from Davis and Co., can just keep hoping and praying for.miracles !

  3. Last week’s stuff. The season starts today – lets talk about the Raiders. Yeah, we’ll miss him but its done, turn the page. We will have 4 first round picks in two years. That averages 1 pick for every 16 players AND a buck full of salary cap. The defense that we have today (even without Mack) is better than we’d had last year.
    Beat that dead horse on Wednesdays, when there is nothing to talk about. The Raider play their season opener TONIGHT on MNF for goodness sakes- write about that…..

  4. The biggest mistake made here was trading Mack right now. The best play was to allow him to sit out the whole year, then announce he’s on the trading block about 2-3 weeks before the draft. Can you imagine the feeding frenzy that close to the draft? The worst possible move was trading him now. The Raiders look like the bad guys, not Mack. Mack would have looked like the douche if he sat out all year. Such a stupid play by Gruden…..incredibly foolish

    1. Agreed! Because he is still playing for the 13.8 he was signed to do at the Raiders. Mack is the one that looks selfish.I already gave away my Mack Jersey. F him

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