Gruden won’t accept paycheck if he ‘can’t get it done’

Jon Gruden is ready to get the job done for the Oakland Raiders.

And if he doesn’t, Gruden is prepared to turn down any payments he might be offered on the 10-year, $10-million contract the team used to lure him away from his lucrative “Monday Night Football” gig for a second stint as the Raiders’ head coach. Or so he says. “If I can’t get it done, I’m not going to take their money,” Gruden told USA Today on Tuesday.

Of course, there’s plenty of wiggle room within that statement, as Gruden didn’t specify exactly what it would take to “get it done.” The Raiders have only had one winning season in the last 15 seasons, so it’s not as if the bar is set incredibly high.

But they were a very good team under Gruden the first time around, going 38-26 with two playoff berths and an appearance in the AFC championship game in four seasons. Following the 2002 season, the year that Gruden left for Tampa Bay, the Raiders made it to the Super Bowl -- and lost to Gruden’s Buccaneers.

Plus, the Raiders are only a season removed from what appeared to be a breakthrough year, going 12-4 and making the playoffs for the first time since that Super Bowl appearance. Quarterback Derek Carr made the Pro Bowl and earned a fiveyear, $125-million contract extension that offseason.

But the team couldn’t match that success in 2017, and thirdyear coach Jack del Rio was fired after a 6-10 finish. Now the Raiders are looking to Gruden and his staff to help them return to their winning ways.

“There’s a perception out there that I’m doing everything,” Gruden said. “I’m talking to Derek Carr and we’re trying to get ready for practice. I’m trying to pick up [defensive coordinator] Paul Guenther’s crazy blitzes ... I understand the bull’s-eye thing, but I can only control what I can.”

49ers report to camp

SANTA CLARA — Coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch spent 30 minutes Wednesday fielding questions from the media, then for the next hour the 49ers offered up Jimmy Garoppolo, Richard Sherman, Joe Staley and DeForest Buckner.

Sherman is cleared to come back from Achilles repair, and the 49ers plan to practice him back-to-back days and then let him recover the next day. Sherman said he is 100 percent, adding: "I never had any doubt. ... It's one of those things you allow yourself to really see what you're made of when you go through things like this, and I appreciated the journey."

Sherman reportedly had a $2 million bonus kick in by being medically cleared for camp.