Raiders' Josh McDaniels Answers Tough Questions on Loss
HENDERSON, Nev.--The mood around the Las Vegas Raiders changed after an embarrassing and disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night.
The 2022 Silver and Black have surrendered four leads of 13-plus points, but before Thursday, each loss was followed by frustration and determination.
But after the loss, the team didn't quit or give up, but during the previous three-game winning streak, the NFL Playoffs had come back into focus, and after Thursday, disappointment permeated the organization.
The team knew that Thursday was an opportunity lost.
Coach Josh McDaniels reviewed the film and took time to talk to a handful of beat reporters to discuss the loss. Somber, the Raiders' leader, was resolute, never losing focus on the long-term goals.
Unlike many coaches who get salty and cantankerous when asked tough but legitimate questions after losses, McDaniels answered every tough question.
If you like McDaniels or not, I do; the Raiders' leader showed character and integrity, taking time to answer everything asked.
You can watch the entire press conference below and read the entire transcript:
Head Coach Josh McDaniels
Opening Statement: “As I said yesterday, there were a lot of plays in the game who could have changed some of the things that happened. I think the big thing for us today is going to be respecting how much each play can impact the result of a game. There are plays in the first quarter that could have changed drives, either side, second quarter, third quarter and then obviously the fourth quarter. So, a lot to learn from. It's a tough one. Give them credit, they kept playing, kept fighting. That's been the nature of our season one way or the other, either we win a close one or somebody else does. We've got to make more plays along the way to avoid putting ourselves in a situation where we put it in a one or two play sequence to determine the outcome. It's hard lesson to learn, but it's something that we're going to need to do better as we go forward."
Q: Under 30 seconds to go with no timeouts, and you guys go with a press-man coverage. Can you please explain that thought process?
Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, you have multiple choices there, and we chose to at least get tight to him and try to make completing the ball a little bit harder. I don't think we did a great job of executing being on top of the player the way that we would like to. Again, we can always look back at that and choose something else and we play a softer zone and give them the opportunity to find somebody in some space.
I know the time was a little bit of a factor; they still could have completed a ball and then clocked it and those kinds of things. So, hindsight is always 20/20. And I think for us, the message is just going to be whatever the call is; whenever we call zone, man, split safety, post safety, just try to execute it as best we can to try to deny opportunities like that."
Q: When you look back at the second half, do you think that maybe you got too conservative last night?
Coach McDaniels: “When you look at the tape, there were opportunities to be made. I don't know how many times Derek [Carr] scrambled, but it had to be four or five at least, I think. On a number of those we were attempting to get the ball down the field and had some opportunities on some of them to do that. Again, passing the ball is a complimentary thing. I've said it all year and I won't stop saying it because the truth. It's not just calling a pass play, or calling a deep shot, it's everything has to work together. The route has to be run properly, the read has to be made properly, the protection has to be done well, and then you have an opportunity to make a play. Just because somebody calls something, which there was a number of them called last night, doesn't mean that the ball is ultimately going to get fired down the field or we're going to have great, great success. When we've had success this year, it's been the result of everybody doing their job well. That's the reality. And so, I didn't call the game any differently yesterday than I have any other game this year offensively. I just felt like we didn't have as much success taking advantage of a few opportunities that were presented to us for a number of reasons. And again, they deserve credit. They played hard, they had some things inside that gave us some trouble in the middle of the pocket and forced Derek to move a little bit more than what we would have liked. And so, there were opportunities that we weren't really able to take advantage of, as opposed to just we didn't attempt to. We really didn't convert many of them is really what it was."
Q: You said last night you couldn't see what happened on the Jerry Tillery penalty? Were you able to see it on film?
Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, now I saw it. I mean, obviously, he knocked the ball out of his hand. Look, at that point, it's second-and-19 or second-and-20, and the clock's running. The message today is: 'Let's just get back to the line of scrimmage and play the next down.' Really for a defensive player, an offensive player – there's nothing good that happens after the whistle when you're doing things like that. It doesn't matter what it is; shoving, pushing, saying something. I mean, you don't get points for that. There's nothing good that comes from it. So, I'm sure Jerry will see that. I'm sure he feels bad about the situation. And we'll try to coach and correct it again today."
Q: On Derek Carr's first interception, it looks like the guard got pushed into him after he starts the motion. Is that what happened?
Coach McDaniels: “There was some compression in the pocket. So, we might have had something else available a little bit earlier, or as it was kind of coming in his face. Again, like I said, passing the ball is a team thing. It's not just called a pass play and it's going to magically work because it's a pass play. The design has to be well done, the execution of the route has to be done properly, the read, the protection has to be inside out. We have to anchor the middle, so he has a chance to step up and throw. We've had a lot of good throws this year, a lot of good pass plays, a lot of success doing some things. And when we've had that, it's not been just because Davante [Adams] ran a great route. Well, there's a lot of those, but Derek did something right, the other part of the pattern was executed well, that protection was done right. And that's always what it is. It's a team thing. And so, I thought we were doing a really good job of taking the last shot there at the end of the second quarter. We were manipulating the ball down the field and trying to end the half with a score and trying to go up 20-3, if we could. That play obviously didn't go our way, so it's something to learn from for us."
Q: The momentum you had built up with a three-game winning streak, does it feel like a step back with the way it was lost?
Coach McDaniels: “I mean, none of them feel good. I mean, it's a gut punch. And, God, we've had a few of them where we had a chance and just for whatever reason don't end up getting it closed out. There's been a number of reasons why. And so, look, I mean, I think we have a mentally tough group. I think we've handled some adversity this year with a good attitude and the right approach, and that's what we all need to do. We're professionals and they'll have an opportunity to get little rest here and try to get their mind away from things for a few days. And then when it's time to come back, it's time to go back to work. We've got four more games that we have control over, and we will put everything we got into them and see what happens."
Q: You've said all year that your team has been good about win or lose, it's not too high or too low. You just said you've been through this before, but in the locker room last night it felt different. Did it feel different for you?
Coach McDaniels: “I think guys knew that there was an opportunity, you know what I mean? I mean we had an opportunity, certainly, and we had earned the right to be in that position where we're getting closer to clawing back into some things here as the season winds down. I certainly think that our team felt like we had an opportunity yesterday. We were in position to have a chance to win, that's the reality. However good or bad we had played up to that point, we had played well enough to earn that right to be in there and try to close it out and it gets to 6-7, and that's I think what everybody -- everybody put a lot in the last four days to try to get that done. So yeah, the disappointment and the frustration of not being able to close it is palpable, easily to see. But that doesn't mean you have a bad locker room. It doesn't mean that anybody is pointing fingers or blaming others. The reality is, we let an opportunity go, and I'm responsible for that. So, if they want to point a finger, point it at me. We're going to try to go back to work and fix the things that aren't being done well enough to close out these close games."
Q: You about learning how to win, and clearly over the three-game win streak they did. But when you're giving up multiple double-digit leads, is that killer instinct learning how to put your foot on somebody's throat?
Coach McDaniels: “I don't know if it's a killer instinct as much as it's just continuing to do your job. I mean like I said, Maxx sacks the quarterback, and then we just talked about a penalty that we haven't done much of that all year, and all of a sudden, we have a penalty that puts us in a situation where we give them yards and give them a first down. And then we jump offside on a punt rush, and it's the same thing. It's things like that. I don't think it's killer instinct. I think it's just the reality is you've got to do your job right for 60 minutes, and if you don't, then teams in this league take advantage of mistakes that you make. I've said it before, and I know people get tired of hearing it, but you can't win until you stop from losing. And those kinds of things can affect the outcome of the game. They might not determine it right then and there, but they have some kind of an impact as the game goes along. And I think our team is starting to really understand that. I think that's what they feel, and they feel bad about when they make a mistake like that. It sucks. Any disappointment like that should be kept where it needs to be kept, which is -- look, we can do something better about it as we go forward and try to make a difference as we do."
Q: Any update on Alex Bars and his knee injury?
Coach McDaniels: “I don't have anything yet. I think it might be a little bit of time here with AB [Alex Bars]. They're going to do a couple more tests, but he got bent over. I mean, if you guys saw the play, we were lucky he didn't break his legs. I think it's probably going to be a little bit of time."
Q: What about Josh Jacobs' injury?
Coach McDaniels: "Nothing yet. I think the X-ray yesterday was negative, so I think that was a good thing. So, nothing new as of this point."
Q: When you punt on fourth-and-one on that last possession, you can't ask for a better result obviously than what you got. How much of the thought process when deciding whether to punt or not is: 'Look, the quarterback on the other side has only been here two days. There's not probably much two-minute drill he could do.' Did that play into the decision on that?
Coach McDaniels: "I mean, look, we had an opportunity on third-and-one. We really did. We didn't do anything with that opportunity, that's a fact. We didn't do very well with it, so that being the case, it wasn't a big discussion for me in terms of what we were going to do. I mean at that point, if you don't get it on the 30-yard line, they've got a short field and two minutes to go. So, it could be trouble. I think AJ (Cole) executing it the way that he did and putting them 98 yards away from a touchdown, I don't know what else we could have asked from him or the punt team. You're hoping at that point that you have an opportunity to close the game out playing defense and stop them from going 98 yards. That's the reality."
Q: There was one play where you had a little bit of an unorthodox formation, with Jakob Johnson at tight end and Davante Adams at tailback. Was that just a different look?
Coach McDaniels: “It was just a short yardage thing. I mean, we've run that play multiple times, just with different formations, different looks, and all that, but you force the defense to try to react a little bit differently. And unfortunately, we didn't do a very good job of executing the play in general.”
Q: Is it maybe a negative to have the extra time leading up to the Patriots game where you have to talk about it, do interviews about it and answer questions about going against your former team?
Coach McDaniels: “No. I mean, to me, I think it's the next game on the schedule. Look, it is what it is. I mean, I used to work there, we have a couple of players who used to be there and a couple of coaches. But this is an important game for the Raiders, whether we were playing the Patriots or any other team. So, I don't really put any stock into the different things and you guys are going to have a hard time finding me the next couple of days. So, it is what it is.”
Q: The playoffs percentages were obviously very impacted by the loss. How much are you worried about the mindset of the players that there are still things to play for?
Coach McDaniels: “We haven't really talked about it to this point either. So, I'm not going to start talking about it now. We don't have any control over that, that's the truth. The reality is what we can control, we can control. And that's our preparation and our performance, and we're going to try to do the best we can with the opportunities that we have remaining. If we do well with those, then we'll see what sorts out. But I think that's so far away from us now, and I think really what we've got to do is take the corrections from the film today, try to do the best we can with those and then take a little bit of time and give them some rest, a little recovery time here for our bodies. Playing three games in 12 days is never easy for them and then trying to come back here next week with good energy and prepare for a game like we prepared all year. That's what we can control.”
The Raiders return to action back home at Allegiant Stadium on Dec. 18, 2022, when they host the New England Patriots. That game will kick off at 4:05 p.m. EST/1:05 p.m. PST and can be seen on FOX.
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