Gruden backs his defensive coordinator
INSIDE THE RAIDERS
It’s impossible to know what’s going on behind closed doors at the Raiders’ practice facility, but coach Jon Gruden’s public response this week about the job performance defensive coordinator Paul Guenther was succinct:
“I know he’s a good coach and the mistakes are correctable and we’ll correct ‘em.”
Gruden answered the question in matter- of-fact fashion and in such a manner that it invited no followups, not that it would have mattered anyway. Gruden isn’t about to put Guenther’s feet to the fire in a media setting. Not when Guenther was Gruden’s handpicked coordinator as well as a good friend.
It’s four games into
the season and the Raiders play the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. The immediate challenge of sorting through injuries and putting together a plan to somehow stay on the same field with Patrick Mahomes and Co. supersedes everything else.
It’s not as if Gruden has a lot of options even if he were to take the unlikely step of an in-season firing or demotion. Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli (Cowboys) and defensive backs coach Jim O’Neil (Browns and 49ers) are the only assistants with coordinator experience and they’ve got their hands full with their own struggling units.
The Raiders have played poorly on defense since Guenther’s arrival with Gruden in 2018, a season from which not a single starter remains. An influx of talent through free agency this year and the draft over the past few years in theory would add the speed and athleticism necessary for a representative unit.
Instead, the Raiders, 2-2
after a 2- 0 start, have yet to give up less than 24 points in a game and have only four sacks and two interceptions through 16 quarters.
How Gruden answered questions on issues from Sunday’s game:
LACKOF A PASS RUSH >> “Your pass rush is never good enough and right now ours is not good enough. And we’re going to continue to work at making it better. (On Sunday) We did some good things to control the pocket, to keep (Bills quarterback Josh) Allen from scrambling. That was a reason I think the rush wasn’t as good as perhaps it could have been, because we did want to be careful in containment of the quarterback.”
PLAY OF THE SECONDARY AFTER LOSS OF ROOKIE CORNER DAMON ARNETTE >> “I think we played pretty good. We just have eliminate the mistakes. The first touchdown pass we’re in a man-to-man coverage and we’ve got a couple of guys who don’t play man-to-man. It’s not that hard. That’s very correctable and it’s going to get corrected. If we eliminate the mistakes we can be a whole lot better.”
WHETHERLINEBACKERCORY LITTLETON IS STILL GETTING ADJUSTED TO HIS NEW TEAM >> “A little bit. He spent his whole career at one place. He’s on a new team and a new defense with new teammates and had very little time in the offseason and really during training camp to be acclimated so it’s a work in progress. I still know he’s a heck of a player and I’m glad we got him.”
DEREK CARR’S COMMENTS ABOUT BEING SICK OF LOSING >> “I like his competitive spirit. I like what he stands for and I like the way he’s
playing. I’ll just leave it at that.”
THE POSSIBLE RETURN OF TACKLE TRENT BROWN >> “I don’t know about Trent. We’re hoping so. We really are. But I can’t make any promises. We’ll have to wait and see until Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.”
THEO RIDDICK’S PROMOTION FROM PRACTICE SQUAD AND ROLE GOING FORWARD >> “We’ll see. Jalen (Richard), he nicked up his ankle a little bit, I’ll have to hear from a trainer in regards to that. We only had four receivers up so we tried to get some more juice on the field in another spot. So we’ve been adapting pretty much to who’s healthy and that will continue.”
Riddick and Keelan Doss officially reverted to the practice squad Monday, which doesn’t preclude either from getting back on the 53-man roster.
CHALLENGE OF THE CHIEFS >> “There’s a lot of emotions you go through when you play the Chiefs. It’s our No. 1 rival and the best team in football. ( Patrick) Mahomes is something else, I’ll give you that. He’s a magician. He’s really special, and every play he can take your breath away. But it’s a great challenge for us and one we’re looking forward to, I’ll leave it at that.”