Raiders Owner Mark Davis Accepts Blame For 1–8 Start
Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis put the blame on himself after his team lost another game on Sunday, this time to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The 20–6 loss to Chargers was Oakland's fifth loss in a row and dropped them to 1–8.
"I always look in the mirror, and the buck stops with me,” Davis said to ESPN.com. “Where this team is right now is my fault. We haven’t been able to build a 22-man roster. We haven’t been able to give this team a chance to win because the reconstruction failed. We failed from 2014 on to have a roster right now. We failed. I have failed. But at the same time, we wouldn’t have been in the great position we were in without Reggie McKenzie being here.”
The team has been criticized for a series of moves, including trading All–Pro Khalil Mack and wide receiver Amari Cooper.
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Davis said that the team offered Mack a contract in 2017 that would have made him the highest-paid defensive player in the league.
"But they decided they didn't want to do it that early," Davis said. "They would wait."
When Davis again talked with Mack's representatives about a contract extension during February's scouting combine, they countered with another offer, which Davis said "was not going to happen, was not doable for us."
"From that point on, (Mack) would not talk to anyone in our organization," Davis said. "Not Reggie, not Jon, not anybody."
Oakland is set to relocate to Las Vegas in 2020, but where they will play its home game in 2019 is still up in the air.
The Oakland City Council authorized a multimillion-dollar antitrust lawsuit against the NFL and the team in September over the Raiders' move to Las Vegas.
"I personally want to play in Oakland," Davis said. "I absolutely want to play in Oakland. We have a completed lease sitting with the city council, that all they have to do is agree to it and we're here next year."
