Raiders Josh McDaniels Entire Comments Post Chiefs

The Las Vegas Raiders season is over, but now we move on to what should be the most interesting offseason in recent memory, and we have Josh McDaniels thoughts.

LAS VEGAS, Nev.-The 2022 Las Vegas Raiders season kicked off with very high hopes. Those hopes came crashing back to earth as the sun set on their season with a disappointing. 6-11 record.

Josh McDaniels spoke after the game, and here are his entire comments. You can watch the video and read the transcript below:

Raiders Head Coach Josh McDaniels

Opening Statement: “Well, congratulations to coach [Andy] Reid and the Chiefs. That’s a really good football team. They're well-coached and do a lot of things the right way. Obviously, they earned it today, for sure. They got off to a good start and we never really could get much rhythm or momentum going in the game. So, again, congratulations to them. We'll learn a lot from this, obviously. We know who we're chasing, that's for sure."

Q: Now that the season's over, do you immediately just go right into the offseason? Do you even review the film from this game?

Coach McDaniels: "Oh, no. I mean, you learn something from everything. So, the staff will watch the tape tomorrow, and we'll be very precise with what we've seen. Like I said, we're going to play them again. And so, there's a lot of things we learned from the first time we played them, and there's going to be a lot of things we learn again. There are things you learn about players, situations, etcetera. So, there's plenty to learn from each game."

Q: What was your reaction to the ring-around-the-Rosie play – did you find it disrespectful at all?

Coach McDaniels: “No. Coach Reid has some of those things each game. Look, at that point, we were still competing in it, and they were trying to score. If they felt like that was a play that could give them an opportunity to score a touchdown, which it almost did. I mean, there's shovel passes. I mean, I've run flea flickers and all that kind of stuff. And like I said, just because the game was in the fourth quarter doesn't mean it was out of hand yet. So, no, I did not at all."

Q: You've been here for a full season now. Do you think the team is closer or further away for where you guys need to be to compete against teams like the Chiefs?

Coach McDaniels: “There is no timeline on that. I think the thing you do is you take the best day you can have, and you continue to do that and produce those through the offseason and improve the football team in any way that you can. Whether that's our process, what we choose to do, how we play, how we coach, the players that are on the team. We have a lot of things to evaluate obviously, and we know a lot more now than we did last January. And we've got a year full of evidence of what we need to make better, whether it's our process or on our team. There's a lot of things that we can look at and we're going to address them. Like I said, we'll see. Look, every year you're trying to win, every game you're trying to win. There’s no seasons where you're going out there and saying, 'This one doesn't really matter.' They all matter. I think everybody in this organization wants to do that and that's what we're going to be hard at work to do."

Q: You're going to obviously evaluate everything in the weeks and months ahead. Does anything stand out to you right now in terms of what happened here this season? Can you point to different things of why it ended up this way?

Coach McDaniels: “No. I mean, there's a lot of reasons why you win and lose. I mean, today wasn't a really close game, but we obviously have played in a lot of them, so going back through all those. You win in this league when you earn it, and that's through performance and work. And so, we all can do something better – some of us may be more than others. And so, I'll start with myself, and our staff, and try to do everything we can do better as we go into the offseason and next year. Same thing with how we play. So, there's not one thing. There's too many variables in football."

Q: Since the beginning of the season, you talked about understanding the expectation from Raider Nation. Obviously, so much transpired in the 18 weeks leading into this, but what are your emotions finishing your first year?

Coach McDaniels: “Blessed. I'm extremely blessed, grateful, thankful for the opportunity myself. Appreciate the guys in the locker room, our team. Adversity is part of our journey and part of our story, and I've been on a lot of teams before that it hasn't ended perfect. And a lot of times, those are the moments and those are the years and those are the games that propel you into improving and then you have an opportunity to go farther and do more. And so, I couldn't be more thankful for the group in the locker room, the staff, the way the organization has treated me and my family. We're going to be hard at work. We know what we want to do and what we want to accomplish. We didn't come here to just go through it. That's not our intentions. And so, we knew when we came here there was going to be a process involved, and I know people get sick and tired of hearing about that word. But look, that’s the reality, is there's work involved and there's time and there's decisions and there's evaluations that need to be made. And that's what we're going to do. We're going to make them and we're going to try to make the team better in every way that we can."

Q: How would you assess your coaching this year if you had to give yourself a grade? And how are you going to be able to learn how to close out games in the second half?

Coach McDaniels: “I'm not going to grade anybody. But look, I mean, we are what we are. And so, I know there's things I can do better and I'm going to evaluate myself first and try to do a better job of what I'm doing and what I'm responsible for. And I'm going to try to do that with our entire team. And so, the fact that you're in games gives you an opportunity, and now you have to do things at the end of those close games to earn the victories. That's the nature of the National Football League. I mean, pretty much every game is going to come down towards the end. In order to win those, there's a lot of things you got to do right. I thought today was a good example of, if you make a few mistakes against this kind of a football team and you don't take advantage of the opportunities that you have, then the game can get away from you a little bit. They've been together for a long time, and they've got a really good formula. They have a process in place that’s pretty damn successful and we know who we're chasing."

Q: Obviously, last week a great job in terms of keeping Jarrett Stidham standing. Kind of the opposite tonight. Was that more about what the front seven were able to do on the opposite side? Or was there kind of some missed assignments?

Coach McDaniels: “We might have had one or two assignment type of deals, but I thought for the most part they played some coverages that kind of dictated that we ended up holding the ball a little bit, take the first read away, and then have to go through the progression a little bit more. And then, look, they have a good front and good rushers. They had a good plan. Coach [Steve] Spagnuolo did a great job. Again, part of the whole formula for playing these guys and beating them is to try to stay out of those types of situations. When you're in obvious long yardage passing situations against that team, it's not a good formula for success. And so, to get off to a good start, which we really didn't do, to get ahead, to stay balanced and really lean on our running game and try to do it that way, is a much better formula for success against them. And unfortunately, today, we could not do that."

Q: What are your takeaways from Jarrett Stidham's first two starts?

Coach McDaniels: “I thought he did some good things and there's plenty to learn from. I think that any young player who's playing his first or second game in the NFL, there's going to be a lot of things that you do that you haven't experienced before. And so, I thought that he learned some things last week. He learned more things today. I thought he hung in there and made some good throws as the game wore on and gave us an opportunity on some things. And ultimately, we had a couple of turnovers that against this team could really hurt you. So, a lot to learn from this game."

Q: Josh Jacobs went through kind of a scary situation with his family back in Oklahoma. Were you a little surprised that he even came back out here to play this game today?

Coach McDaniels: "No because I know him, and that's a testament to him and his family. That was totally on their discretion. We understood the situation. I'm not going to get into the specifics of that and I respect their privacy. J.J. knew he had whatever he wanted from us relative to support, and we understood and respected the situation. And if he had chosen not to, then I would have completely understood that. But he came back, and I give him a ton of credit for giving it a go and trying to help us win a game at the end of the season."

The NFL Scouting Combine is February 28-March 6, 2023, held at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN.  March 7, 2023, before 4:00 p.m. EST, is the club's deadline to designate Franchise or Transition Players.

March 13-15 is the free agent negotiation period.  During the time starting at 12:00 noon EST on March 13 and ending at 3:59:59 p.m., New York time, on March 15, clubs are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2022 Player Contracts at 4:00 p.m., New York time, on March 15.

The 2023 NFL Year and Free Agency period begins at 4:00 p.m. EST on March 15.  The Raiders are expected to be significant players in the free-agent market this season.

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