Raiders' Josh McDaniels Entire Monday Recap

Moments ago, Coach Josh McDaniels gave his Monday recap of the Raiders' loss to the San Francisco 49ers, and we have all of it for you.

HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders saw an improved offense after moving from Derek Carr to Jarrett Stidham. Still, they got the same results when an anemic defense again gave away a significant lead.

Now 6-10 this season, Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels spoke moments ago after reviewing the game film from another loss.

You can watch the entire press conference below and read the transcript.

Head Coach Josh McDaniels

Opening Statement: “Not a whole lot different than what we talked about after the game. Some good things, and then obviously some things to fix and improve. As hard as we fought, obviously we left some meat on the bone, I'd say. Especially offensively and defensively, definitely things we could have done better to change the outcome. The kicking game was largely a bunch of touchbacks and extra points and those kinds of things. But we had some things we could have done better in both phases. Again, give them credit, they did a good job and made a couple more plays than we did.”

Q: There have been a lot of missed draft picks on defense over the last few years. When you realistically look at your defense, how long do you think it can take for it to get to the level that you need it to be?

Coach McDaniels: “I don't know that you ever go into it saying that two years from now or next spring. ... It's hard to put a timeline on that because every day you're going to try to make it better, whether you're coaching the players that are here to try to improve them positionally and individually, or you're trying to identify ways that you could improve the roster either from the bottom or from the top. The short answer is we want to try to improve it as much as we can every day, whether that's working here with the guys who are already on the team or identifying opportunities to improve it somewhere else. Look, every phase of the team is going to be addressed. That's what happens every year. So, defensively, do we have some things we want to try to improve? No question. Same thing offensively. There are definitely areas where we can improve and get better, and in the kicking game. There's no timeline on it. We're definitely not going to be patient in that regard. Those evaluations after the season will be very important to us. It'll kind of lay up a blueprint for, OK, what do we need to do with the guys who are coming back to make sure that they can take a step forward and improve. And then, what do we need to address somehow, someway relative to acquisitions in the off-season. And so, we'll be hard at work at that after this next game."

Q: How much of the criticism do you think has been unfair for Patrick Graham, because he is only coaching the players that he has on the roster?

Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, to me, I'm not really in touch with all the outside criticism, and that's not a knock on anybody who has an opinion either. I see what Pat [Graham] does every day, I see what our staff does every day, I see what our players do every day. And look, football is a team game and each man on the team is not going to be created equally. Each phase of the team is not going to be identical in terms of strengths and weaknesses. That's the beauty about our sport is that you can play a team game and you can make a decision each week about what you need to do to play it right against a team that has different strengths and weaknesses than you do. And last week was a good example. This week will be a completely different example of their strengths and weaknesses that are completely different than ours in many ways. And we have to use what we have to try to combat theirs and try to play the game as a team so that we have a chance to win. So, I don't blame anybody, and we don't blame anybody here either. We just tried to accept accountability for the things we can do well to help our team try to win. I think Pat's done a great job of that, our staff has too. And look, these are our guys. These are our guys, and so whether we drafted them, signed them, or they were here before we got here, it doesn't make any difference in football, like this is our team. So, to me, we coach them all the same. We don't look at how they ended up here. That's not what we're judging. What we're judging is what they do on a day-to-day basis. And our job is to try to help them improve. In many cases, especially some of our younger players, have really showed some progress throughout the course of the season. We've played a ton of players on defense. That's an exciting thing as we move forward. I know not everybody's excited about that at the moment, but that's a good thing as we progress here. Look, any blame, I mean, like I said, we all share it. It starts with me."

Q: You guys are currently slated to have a high pick early in the first-round next year. Last year, it was a little bit of a weird draft because you guys obviously made the trade for Davante Adams and didn't have much draft capital. But how much does it change your approach going into the off-season when you have so many resources at the moment going into the draft?

Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, there were a certain number of players who we probably knew last year going into the draft that we were going to have a hard time accessing. Just being factual. You're looking at the board and the guys that you think like, OK, are they going to go in the 40s, 50s or 60s. You're not sure, but you might have a shot at them maybe if they fall a little bit. There were certainly guys that you pretty much had a great idea that they were going to be gone in the first 30, 35, 40 picks. We evaluated them all. Like I said, there's a long-term benefit to doing that too because players go on to second and third contracts and it's the right thing to do your due diligence on that. So, we did that. But I would say this year, obviously there's going to be a different element, a different feeling as we go into the that part of the year because there are going to be a number of players now who the hell knows how the first so many picks go. And you've just got to be ready to go and hopefully add a bunch of good players to your football team. The other thing that obviously could happen, and I'm not sitting here prognosticating anything so please don't write anything about this. Like, when you have things and you have more, you can move back. There are all those things that you could do too that we really didn't have as much of an opportunity to do with where we were slated to pick first last year. There's a lot of different things that will probably come up and take place between now and then that Dave [Zeigler] is obviously already hard at work on a lot of different things. But when you pick early in each round, and you have a pick in every round, that obviously changes the draft relative to what we had last year."

Q: Defensively, how important is it to have guys who not only just do their job, but are expected to make plays and come up with the ball when it's in the air?

Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, I mean, it’s important. There's no real shortcut. … You can teach certain things and you can teach techniques. You can try to create good habits, which is what we do every day at practice. That's what we're trying to get our guys to understand and learn so that when you're in the middle of the game you act subconsciously. You're not thinking about it: 'Let me try to punch the ball out.' You're just doing it because that's something that you have now learned and it's part of who you are, a part of your game. Then there's an element I would say of instinct. That's something that sometimes you can maybe improve it a little bit, but there are certain players who have a knack for that. Maxx Crosby finding the ball, punching it out, or somebody's getting hands on the ball in the secondary or linebacker position. There are players who we've played against over many years that you're like: 'How the hell did they end up with the ball so much?' Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu. And there are guys like that where you just go like: 'I'm not sure who taught them, but they taught them well.' You know what I mean? And they might have taught him when they were this high, too. So, there's an instinctive level of defensive football where you can see the ball and the quarterback and your receiver at the same time, and you're feeling the route and all those things. Sometimes, like I said, you can make that better. And other times that's hard to do because instinct is something you're born with some of it, and believe me, you're blessed when you have it. And then there's other times where the ball is just … like we had a couple yesterday where the ball is up in the air and it's like we're just not close enough to it because we were doing our job somewhere else and then it lands harmlessly down on the turf. I know you want as many as you can have. Sometimes I think you can make your own ball disruptions and those kinds of things, and that's kind of obviously what we're going to be trying to improve. It's an area we're going to definitely obviously try to improve."

Q: Jarrett Stidham was really efficient in the clean pockets. There also times where things were breaking down for whatever reason and he had to go make some plays with his legs, moving around the pocket. How important is that in today's football to have that ability as your quarterback? Where's the fine line of "Alright, I got to move on from whatever was drawn up, whatever the intention of the play was, and go figure out a way to go make a play?"

Coach McDaniels: “I think that in today's NFL, I think there's varying levels of you wanting that. In a perfect world, every pass play you draw up, you could just go back there in a nice, clean pocket and make a read and throw and catch the ball. Realistically, that's unrealistic. And so, I think that when something does happen to break down, having an ability to either make a decision quickly and then throw the ball to an outlet receiver or what have you, that's one way to handle it. Or to maneuver with your legs and extend the play. And so, I think different players have different skill sets. There are quarterbacks who you play where you go: 'OK, we'd rather keep him in the pocket than let him get out of the pocket.' Because now you can really create some damage for yourself if you do that. And conversely for us, if we can make a play from the pocket because we have a good clean pocket, it's great. He extended some plays yesterday that worked in our favor, and sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't, you know what I mean? So, I think the most important thing for me as I look at that trait, and that skill, is that when they do make the decision to move, it's a good decision and not a decision that's going to cause them more harm. Leaving the back of the pocket and now you get stripped sacked. Those kinds of decisions bother me because now you're putting the team and the ball at risk. I think if they make a good choice to move and maneuver outside of the pocket, and then when they're out there make another good decision because that's a whole separate part of the equation. Alright you're out there – and we all saw him yesterday drift, drift, drift, and I'm not going to tell you what I was saying when he was drifting, but it's somewhere in the neighborhood of: 'Throw it away, or get down.' And then all of a sudden, you see something open and then you go ahead and make another decision. So, I think there's a lot of different elements to that. It's not just run out of the pocket and then it's over. It's making a good decision about whether you should or shouldn't leave, and then once you're out there, you got to also make another good choice about what to do with the football. Because we see them all the time in games every weekend where somebody maneuvers, gets outside the pocket, and then makes a bad decision and throws it back across the field and it's an interception and you go: 'Oh, man, that's not what we want to do.' So, there's a lot that goes into that and not the least of which is what you saw Davante [Adams] do. That's the scramble drill that we work on from OTAs on, where the guy's coming this way, he looks, there's a guy here, there's a guy there, and he goes: 'There's nobody back here and I'm going to put my hand up and I'm going to be that guy.' So, there are a lot of elements to it that make it productive, but ultimately decision-making is at the top of the chart for me."

Q: Is Jarrett Stidham's next challenge that the Chiefs now have video of him, and he'll probably see some things he didn't see yesterday?

Coach McDaniels: “Sure. I think that's true for every young player who hasn't played a whole lot. The more you put on tape, the more tendencies you display, the more things people might try to do to either hold their disguise, or unsettle you, or try to create some issues in the pocket. Again, the great thing about that is the quarterback always has the ball last and he gets to make a choice. They blitzed him yesterday, they disguised it yesterday. And then didn't blitz; they showed blitz and dropped it. They did all that stuff yesterday. So, he saw a lot of different things yesterday and I think did a decent job of handling most of them the right way. But yeah, the more film you have, the more chances the defense and defensive coordinators and the defensive staff has to try to disrupt you."

Q: It seemed like you and Jarrett Stidham were in sync yesterday. I'm wondering if looking back on the offense this year, do you think it was held back at all by Derek Carr's grasp of the scheme? Was that kind of a feeling you had yesterday that maybe didn't have in previous weeks?

Coach McDaniels: ““No. I don't think that at all. Again, I have a lot of things that our offense can do better. But no, that's not very high on the list of things. I mean, to me, I think that Derek’s played with a lot of confidence in what we do. He's had some really good games this year. We've had games where it's not been that way, but there's a lot of factors that go into that. So, I don't feel like there was a big change in that yesterday.”

Q: What are some personality traits or some things about Jarrett Stidham that you feel like makes him click with the rest of the team?

Coach McDaniels: “First of all, he's a great human being. We're blessed with a lot of those guys here, which is great. I think he gets along really well with everybody. He's a very honest guy, works really hard. Loves football. Puts a lot of time in, is one of the last guys to leave the building every single day. No doubt about it. Willing to help the minute he got here. He kind of understood his position and understood his role and has been willing to help anybody. Whether it's a guard, practice squad tight end, running back, receivers, quarterbacks, whatever. Anything that he knew that he could impart to somebody else, he was very unselfish with trying to assist anybody he could. And I think that says a lot about somebody. You're trying to compete to win a job and to play and all that, but you're willing to take time to help others. I think everybody has seen him do that from the minute he got here. He's a really good person, works hard, and has been very patient too. Obviously, he sat and watched a lot a lot of football in the few years that he's been in the NFL. And I think there are a lot of people yesterday who were happy that he had an opportunity and then made the most of his opportunity.”

Q: Jarrett Stidham told his teammates the loss was on him; Kolton Miller was really devastated about how the last play unfolded. Where do you kind of balance how you want guys to be accountable, but also don’t overreact to a mistake in the game necessarily and let that carry out through their preparation for the next game?

Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, I think accountability is a good thing. Like I said, we never point fingers, we never place blame. We win and lose as a team. They all know that. They heard it from me yesterday. They're going to hear from me again today. In football, there’s 190 plays, 200 plays in every game and I could point to a bunch of obsolete plays that nobody will ever remember yesterday that probably would have changed the outcome of the game. And so, to me, every player that plays 75 plays in a game has some that he would love to change the outcome of and a lot that he's proud of. And so, I think that's really what yesterday was a good example of – there were plenty of good plays, a lot of good plays in many cases, in Kolton’s case and Jarrett’s case. And then there's some plays where you say: ‘Man, I wish I could have changed the outcome or did something a little differently.’ That's football. I think, to me, I think what you see now is a group of guys that they want to win. They're willing to stand up and say: ‘Hey, I didn't do a good enough job on that play.’ That's a great trait to have as a human being and not just a football player. And so, I think that accountability is hopefully what we are building our culture on. Everybody accountable to the others in the locker room. And I hope it carries over into the off-season. It definitely will not carry over into this week and affect this game. I think our guys have, learned enough to know this this year, like we're all part of the equation. When we win, it's the result of a lot of people doing a lot of things right. And when we lose, we all take our share of the blame.”

Q: Is there a chance that Zamir White is back this week?

Coach McDaniels: “I'm hopeful. He worked out before the game yesterday. So, we were just trying to make a decision on whether he was really ready to roll or not, and he's working hard to try to get back as fast as he can. There's no question about it. But he was close enough yesterday for us to work them out. I know we're on a short week, but hopefully with another handful of days here, hopefully we can turn a corner.”

Q: There are some personal things out there for Josh Jacobs statistics wise, and he got banged up a few times yesterday. Is that something where you got to kind of look at it and weigh what's the right thing to do?

Coach McDaniels: “Yes, player's health, safety and just his overall well-being, obviously will be at the top of that list. And then, anything else we will make sure that comes that comes after.”

Q: Do you expect Josh Jacobs to play?

Coach McDaniels: “I'm hoping. Again, I don't put anything by him. I mean there was a couple times he came out yesterday and I thought they were going to tell me see you on Monday, and the son of a gun keeps going back in the game. So, I don't put anything past JJ. He's a warrior and we'll see how it goes this week.”

Q: Usually when you have a short week, you know it and can plan for a couple weeks in advance. Now, you kind of got it sprung on you last night. How much does it change this week? And how difficult is that to adjust your schedule?

Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, we were aware that our game could get changed. So, we kind of had some plans in place either way. It won't change the next few days. We're going to do the right thing with the players. We got some guys with bumps and bruises. It was a physical game yesterday. So, we're going to do the right thing in the next two days here, we’ll watch the film, get treatment. Tomorrow will be their player day off. More treatment tomorrow, and then we're going to probably do exactly what we did for the Pittsburgh week relative to just in terms of how we prepared for it. We’re not going to cram three days in and start practicing tomorrow. So, we'll make sure we've got our preparation ready to go. We'll do whatever we choose to do Wednesday and we’ll be smart about it. It'll be Wednesday, Thursday, and then Friday we'll have a cleanup day, obviously the day before the game, and then get ready to roll on Saturday.”

The Raiders' final game of the season is at Allegiant Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, Jan. 7, and kicks off at 1:30 p.m. PST/4:30 p.m. PST. It will be available to watch on ESPN and ABC.

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