The Las Vegas Raiders are in the midst of a disappointing season under first-year head coach Josh McDaniels, who has drawn the ire of fans in recent weeks for the team’s poor play.
While there are many voices from outside of the organization calling for McDaniels to be fired, Raiders owner Mark Davis gave the 46-year-old a resounding vote of confidence, which put the locker room at ease.
“It really did,” an emotional Derek Carr said at the podium following the Raiders’ 25-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. “Just being here for nine years and everything that we’ve all seen and been through and some tragedies and all the stuff, right? I’m so happy to hear that Mr. Davis feels that way.
“I’m so happy that he loves Josh, he loves Dave [Ziegler] and he believes in them. It kind of just gave us a breath like, ‘Yes, let’s just get better. Let’s work on being a better football team. Let’s go try win all these games. Let’s go and try and do all that, of course, but let’s just be a better football team.’
“And it kind of just let us know, trust that process. Well, there is a process, and we do have time during the season right now that we know who our leader is and we know that we’re rolling, and that gives us confidence as a football team. So, absolutely when he came out and did that; like thank goodness, that kind of thing.”
McDaniels’ job status has come into question, with the Raiders getting off to a disastrous 2-7 start. The team finished 10-7 under interim head coach Rich Bisaccia last season and advanced to the playoffs for just the second time since 2002.
With the Raiders unlikely to make the postseason this year, the team will look to at least win some games down the stretch and create some optimism for the 2023 season.