Del Rio feels fans’ pain after ugly loss
Coach’s anger is evident as he vows to push ahead
ALAMEDA » Jack Del Rio wasn’t in the mood to dress up a pig.
The Raiders coach saw the same thing everyone else saw in a 26-15 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and wanted fans to know he’s more angry about it than they are.
“Here’s what I know,” Del Rio said without prompting Monday at his weekly press conference. “As players and coaches, we’re as frustrated and pissed off about what occurred (Sunday) as you can be, as anybody out there is.
“Losing a game like that hurts. There are no words that I can say here today that are going to take away that pain or make those that care about the Raiders feel better. I’m really not even going to try.”
With the Raiders at 6-7 and on the outside looking in with regard to the AFC West and a wild-card playoff berth, Del Rio was terse and direct in response to questions about the latest subpar performance from a team that had championship aspirations when the season began.
A day after he and quarterback Derek Carr took the brunt of the criticism, Del Rio accepted the blame as part of the job.
“The head coach and the quarterback get a win-loss record off the performance of these games,” Del Rio said. “We won a bunch of games over the last three years and we’re going to continue to win a bunch of games going forward.”
Asked about Carr’s performance (24 for 41 for 211 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions), Del Rio addressed the mindset of the team as a whole on both sides of the ball.
“I think that there have been many examples throughout the season where we have not
played boldly to go make the plays,” Del Rio said. “I would really like to see that ... if you go halfway, it’s not good enough anyway. So I’d love to just see us just let it rip, OK, and go play.
“Talked about hair on fire, talked about the kind of effort and energy, playing fast, that’s what I believe in — and I’d love to see it more often.”
To achieve that goal, Del Rio said it will take a collective effort.
“We share in it,” Del Rio said. “It’s obviously what I’m looking for and I’ve got to do the things necessary to pry it out of our guys. I’d love for it just to be what we do and how we do it. For it to just be part of who we are.”
Del Rio said he the key to being bold is simply making play and being accountable on Sundays in the same way it’s done during the week in practice. Asked if he has seen things done correctly during the week, Del Rio said, “Yes.”
Other observations:
ON CARR’S WILLINGNESS TO SHOULDER THE BLAME FOR THE LOSS » “One guy can try and take it all. I’ve said before, ‘Hey, put it on me.’ “It always comes back to the head coach anyway. Ultimately, I understand of that. I’m not afraid fo that,
and I know Derek is not.” AMARI COOPER, PLAYING WITH A BAD ANKLE, GETTING RE-INJURED AS A BLOCKER ON A TOSS SWEEP TO DEANDRE WASHINGTON » “It was a toss, a crack toss. He was involved in it ... he had an assignment to block. It’s football. He was involved in a play.”
POOR STARTS, SOMETHING THE RAIDERS ALSO DEALT WITH AT TIMES LAST YEAR BUT WON ANYWAY » “You’re saying like in the past couple of years it’s all been perfect early, I don’t think so . . . I’d say it’s something all teams are looking for.” THE DIFFERENCE IN PERCEPTION
FROM LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR AFTER FALLING SHORT IN CLOSE GAMES » “You feel a little differente about it when you win a couple of those close game. If we win in Denver in that close game, it feels different, right? If it’s 17-16 and the Chargers sneak out with a victory, if we win that game, it feels different . . . it’s the difference between feeling good and not feeling good.”
Notes
• Rich Gannon, the former MVP who did the analysis for the Chiefs game on CBS, seemed mystifed at
times during the broadcast at how poorly the Raiders played, didn’t hold back his opinion on CBS Monday Morning Quarterback.
“Absolutely an embarrassing performance on the part of the Raiders,” Gannon said. “I mean, they didn’t even get off the bus. That game was over at the half. It’s beyond me how you could be unprepared for essentially was a playoff game.
“They laid a big goose egg. Derek Carr was terrible. They didn’t run the football. They weren’t good on defense. The coaching was bad. It’s inexcusable to me. And they’ve got problems right now in Oakland. And this has been festering for awhile. They’ve been up and down, an inconsistent team the entire season.”
• Carr, during his weekly Youtube session, was asked about a play in which he appeared to have missed an open Jared Cook downfield in the first half.
“There’s a reason why that inside linebacker let him in there and that’s because the safety backside would have knocked him out if I threw it,” Carr said. “Don’t read into everything what you think you see.”
• During his weekly appearance on the Raiders’ flagship station (95.7 The Game), Del Rio said he will not fire offensive coordinator Todd Downing.
• Del Rio had no updates on injured players.