The Raiders released veteran linebacker Germaine Pratt on Monday, and the announcement wasn’t a big surprise considering the team left him home this weekend with a “non-injury” related issue.
Head coach Pete Carroll said on Monday the team “just thought it was time to go in a different direction” and didn’t add any additional details.
It’s no secret that Pratt came to Las Vegas with a strong personality, and there is speculation that his attitude might have contributed to his release.
As for the remainder of the roster, Raiders Report host Mitchell Renz says there has been “friction” between certain players and coaches inside the locker room.
“I was told by a source yesterday that there is some friction between some players and coaches inside of that locker room,” Renz said on Monday.
“Anyone that has watched the Raiders Report has known I’ve been talking about some of these issues with Germaine Pratt. But that’s not the only player that’s got issues. I promise you that.”
One thing that’s been obvious from the outside is that certain players have been singled out by Carroll’s coaching staff and others seem to get unlimited patience. Jackson Powers-Johnson is a player that never seems to get the benefit of the doubt, while Carroll said on Monday that Geno Smith had a “solid” game against the Colts.
Renz said on Monday that players are starting to notice certain teammates getting preferential treatment.
“Pete Carroll has already identified certain players as his guys.” Renz said.
“There are already players in that Raiders’ locker room, I’m telling you, that are frustrated that there are ‘Pete’s guys’ and then there are everybody else.”
It will be interesting to see what else is reported on the locker room in the weeks ahead, but this also might be a topic many media outlets won’t want to touch.
Sooner or later, though, somebody’s going to have to.
One other person in the building (that’s not actually in the building very often) that keeps coming up is Tom Brady.
There’s no question Brady has “his guys” on the roster, too.
Brady has been in the coaches’ box on gameday with a headset, is reportedly involved in game-planning, and has a number of other roles that the coaches and players may or may not be entirely comfortable with.
It will be interesting to see if the narrative around Brady takes a few turns between now and the end of the season.
x: @raidersbeat
Unless this team has some type of miracle turnaround over the rest of the season, I don’t see why Carroll should be back. He was brought in with a win-now mentality, but doesn’t have the roster for it. His relentless talk of competition and staying positive has to be wearing thin when it’s clear some guys are exempt.
It’s crazy to talk about this after 5 games, but I don’t see any area where the team is improved from last year, including the culture, which was Carroll’s number 1 selling point. No point in a mid season firing, but I think Carroll has a lot to prove over the next 12 games, regardless of his amazing legacy.
I have to agree with you. I thought Pete had the right stuff. But his son isn’t an offensive line coach. Geno Smith was a huge mistake and whoever is making personnel decisions like Thornton and keeping Johnson off the offensive line is mind numbing. And now this whole dissension thing. It’s about to blow it all up.
This was my fear with hiring Carroll. Even during the pre-season there were questions with the roster that suggested it’s not ready for prime time. And hiring a guy like Pete could be a huge risk if the team didn’t show promise immediately. I don’t see this ending well for Pete or Geno and raises the all too frequent question of where do they go from here?
Ironic that I just talked about that same preferential treatment. It happens on every team. It’s happened with the last five head coaches here. The best players are definitely not always on the field.
Keisean Nixon. A perfect example who got no playing time from Patrick Graham. Guy was lights out in the preseason. Just like Sam Webb. Never got a fair shot.
Why does it always to come to this year to year, decade to decade with the Raiders? Chronic dysfunction…I’m so tired of it!
Starting to look like the Carroll hire, and possibly Spytek, was a huge mistake. But, it all falls on Brady’s lap , since he’s running the football operations end of the team. Sorry fellow fans, but this season may be over with!
I warned everyone about having to much faith in Brady, bc he’s never ran a team before. I can see Davis moving on from Brady if there isn’t any sign of improvement after a couple of seasons. But unfortunately it must play itself out.
Sadly you may be right. Mark has tried everything to move the franchise in the right direction but nothing has worked since his ownership in 2011. I understand why he got into bed with both Gruden and Brady, but Gruden has lost his fastball and Brady had never been in the front office side of football, as you noted. This is starting to look like another decade of futility.
I wish that I had another decade left in me to see the turnaround. I may not get to see it, but at least I remember the Madden&Flores SB wins! Raider 4Ever! I see the Buffalo Bills and Commanders become contenders right after new ownership and can’t help but think that’s whats needed with our team?
Me too…I’ve been a Raider fan since the early 70’s and worked at the Oakland Coliseum in the early 70’s! Given the success we had back then, I would have never imagined we would become this bad over the last 30 years. One of my big bucket list dreams is to see them get back to the SB, but they way things look right now I’m worried I won’t be around to see it.
30 years? As soon as Al drafted Marc Wilson and stayed with him AND strong armed his way into majority ownership AND went over the wire we quickly sunk to the bottom of the sewer. Yeah there were two fleeting moments of success. AFC championship game where Buffalo humiliated us and Gruden’s first run. That ended because Gruden wanted control that Al would never give. Ever. I too go back to the early 70’s. Al built it. And burned it to the ground
The fact that plunk is the only two time Super Bowl winner and MVP not in the hof is felonious.
I can’t see Davis moving on from Brady. Mark is a boy band follower. Like Pete, he develops his crush on certain people(Brady).
And Mark’s dumbass idea is to put this guy in charge of everything. A role he isn’t qualified for & a job he is only gonna do part time. This is why Mark is a complete moron. All you gotta do is hire someone like Klint Kubiak & find the best talent evaluator money can buy & you’re setup.
I would’ve to seen Telesco’s face when Brady came in & told him he was fired. Telesco had to laugh his *** off @ him
Brady shouldn’t be running anything. He let’s his feeling get in the way of making g good choices.
Not very business minded to me.
We could of had several Qbs but settled for what everyone knew were RETHREADS…Geno (garbage) Smith has always been the same.
And Daddy his O line coach…what a joke.
We deserve this for continued support of Tha RaiDahs