As the dust settles on Jon Gruden’s abrupt departure from the Raiders, it will be interesting to follow some of the details that emerge from the locker room in the weeks and months ahead.
Most of the players liked Gruden, but that doesn’t mean the locker room can’t improve with him gone. On Wednesday, Josh Jacobs paid a compliment to the team that was hard not connect to Gruden.
“Man, the sideline was just so, it was like, it wasn’t no anxiety,” Jacobs said of Sunday’s game against the Broncos. “It was weird. It was like everybody was calm, you didn’t have somebody cussing at you, or going crazy at the refs. None of that. Something bad happened and it like, ‘OK, next play.’”
Whether or not Jacobs was tactfully referring to Gruden (does anyone really like being cussed at?), there’s no question that the team seems a little more relaxed. Derek Carr has commented a few times on how the last two weeks have brought the team together and it was evident on Sunday that the team did not take a step backward with the loss of Gruden – at least not in the short term.
The next test for interim head coach Rich Bisaccia and the Raiders (4-2) will be the Philadelphia Eagles (2-4). The Raiders are favored by 3 points, but Eagles will present a challenge. Philadelphia doesn’t have a great record but they’ve also had a tough schedule. They have wins over Atlanta and Carolina with their losses coming against San Francisco, Kansas City, Dallas, and Tampa Bay.
If the Raiders can pull off another decisive against the Eagles, it might be time to pause the coaching search and agree to leave well enough alone.
twitter: @raidersbeat
The team was made for more and we like fans believe in this team and god bless to the Ra1ders Team Gerardo Rivera C ( Gerry Rice)
Gruden had Jacobs pigeon holed as the running back getting hammered by defenses. Also, Gruden forgot Josh is a good receiver. Say whut???? Gruden didn’t seem to want to use Drake very much. Again…whut??? Players wanna win. Period.
I don’t get how one day the offensive line plays 1 way and the next day they play so much better the opponent’s defensive line was worse what was going on why is it things can change so much explain the dynamic to me please I’m an idiot
This whole fiasco may just be a huge blessing in disguise.
There’s no question about it. Gruden might’ve been the right guy to help assemble a team with the hiring of Mayock and getting them to this point, But the future is much brighter
My first observation right after the game was Carr played like he was playing in a pickup game at the local park. He seemed relaxed and not afraid to make a mistake while he was slinging it around Empower stadium or whatever it’s called, not having to worry about returning to the sideline and the Chucky disapproval sneer!
I agree with Eddie.
I liked Gruden, always have, but I don’t see an outstanding resume of wins vs. losses. I’m not crying that Gruden is gone – probably a good thing. We will see.
John Gruden should’ve been fired last Year for his play calling.This guy is a control freak and he hurt the other coaches on that team.Long time raider fan glad this man is gone.Just Win Baby.
Hard not to disagree!
Last sentence should have read…
Lastly, was Bill Walsh that way? Jimmy Johnson? Don Shula/ Vince Lombardi or Bill Belichik? Maybe, just maybe that’s why than the were more successful than Gruden. Let him, in his retirement, ponder that for a while.
All things happen for a reason, Jon was a raider , but I always felt his ego and domineering Ways would catch up with him. Loves his players but just doesn’t connect with them as caring father figure. Some need that. Screaming and cussing all the time gets old . Not trying to kick him while he’s down.cause he’s a raider. But watch you mouth and your thoughts, everything ain’t for everybody.
People are reading into stuff too much. Short term memory s it was only 2 weeks ago when both Carr and Gruden seemed upset with Jacobs and his injuries. Also I hate to break the news to everyone but that Denver game there was no changes. That gameplan was already set by Gruden and so was the plays. You don’t change a game plan in 2 days of practice. That’s impossible to do, but I know fans don’t know the ins and outs of football. Playing Madden does not mean you know football. This Eagles game and beyond will tell the story. Even Eagles game Gruden already had work done with them but not fully. So despite you think you seen something new with Raiders offense you really didn’t, only thing maybe you seen was Carr maybe threw to X WR instead of Z on some plays.
I thought the JG, was good at times but he lacked killer instinct he became conservative when we had a lead and often didn’t keep timeouts in 4th qtr…
Also, please let us get to use Ruggs where he is very dangerous every game.
Hey Times change and Gruden was Gruden right or wrong. Now on to the next chapter of Raider Life. We have had sudden coach changes before and got through it. The players still have to play. LETS GO RAIDERS!!!!
And possibly, just possibly, could there be a few more plays, other than the seven targets this year, to the 23 year old Foster Moreau? Last year, Witten took his reps and again, he’s 23 years old!!!!! What are they saving him for????
I do agree with all of the ideas you have presented in your post. They are very convincing and will certainly work. Still, the posts are too short for beginners. Could you please extend them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.