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Raiders' Josh McDaniels Entire Monday Recap

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

HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders saw their once-promising season crash this past weekend as they fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Now 6-9 this season, the Raiders' NFL Playoffs dream, while not mathematically, but theoretically, is dead. Coach Josh McDaniels spoke moments ago after reviewing the game film.

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

Head Coach Josh McDaniels

Opening Statement: “Well, obviously, we talked about this after the game, it was disappointing. I thought we had good effort. I didn't think the conditions really affected us; I thought our guys handled that fine. Just obviously not enough production, I'd say, offensively as we went through the game. It started well, we had a decent first drive, the first half we had some things that we liked and got some things going. We did a decent job of putting some points on the board before the half there in the two-minute drill. But we really just couldn't sustain the positive play formula that we wanted to have. Too many either a negative play here, negative play there or a penalty, an untimely penalty. Obviously the one that took JJ’s [Josh Jacobs] big run back hurt. So, 10 points on the road is tough to win when you're doing that, it puts a lot of pressure and stress on the defense. I thought the defense did a decent job for the most part. We knew they would give us a huge dose of the running back, which he's a really good player. I thought our guys played it admirably for the most part. We gave up a couple chunk runs, but for the most part I thought we did a decent job there and contained the passing game as long as we could. And then they made a few plays there at the end to drive the ball and score at the end. At the end of the day, just hard to win with 10 points. It's just difficult to do that. Like I said, I didn't think we went in there and the conditions affected us, that's not the case. I thought we played decent in that regard, but just didn't have enough to show for it."

Q: Over the last four games, Derek Carr’s completion percentage is 55 percent or below, and he's got nine interceptions over his last five games. Anything that you can put your finger on, on why it's going in that direction?

Coach McDaniels: "Yeah. There's a lot of reasons obviously for that. It's never on one person. That's our responsibility, my responsibility. At the end of the day, the passing game and the production of the passing game usually has a lot to do with how we protect, the routes we run, the ability to read the coverage together, throwing and catching. There's a lot that goes into that. I know that statistic gets applied to only one person, but certainly there's other factors. So, I mean, look that's not good enough. And for us to be able to win at this time of the year and be productive, offensively you have to throw the ball better than what we've thrown at times here in the last month and a half. We've been able to win some in spite of that, overall, but clearly that's not the goal. The goal would be to be more productive than what we've been."

Q: Do you need your quarterback to play better?

Coach McDaniels: “Yeah. I mean, look, we all can do better. If we're sitting in the meeting room today thinking that we played great over the last however long it is, I don't think that's really the case. We all can do better, and we should, and we need to. We can coach better. We're all in this together, that's the way it's going to be, and you win and lose as a team. Offensively, you're productive as a group not as one individual or a bunch of individuals. So, everybody can do better and I'm sure he'd be the first one to tell you that he could do the same thing."

Q: As you look at the team's long-term, Derek's contract, if he's injured, is guaranteed moving forward. So, if you guys continue to play him, is that: 'Hey, we're sticking with him in the future?' Or are those all things that have to be talked about?

Coach McDaniels: “I mean, I think there's a lot of things that are going to go into that bucket once we kind of sort through after tonight. There are other things, too. I mean, we have guys – Divine [Deablo], is he worth playing, not playing coming off IR. The guys who got injured here this week or have some things that are nagging them. I think there's a lot of things that you start to talk about relative to taking care of the people who are dealing with things like that. Injuries or contracts, what have you, I think you've got to consider all that stuff. We just got back in this morning, so we're going through the game. We're going to coach the game and correct all the things that need to be corrected. The reality is, is we haven't had any conversations about those things yet. And as we go through the next 24-to-48 hours, I'm sure we'll sort through some of those things. But we're aware of all those things, too."

Q: Could there be a possibility that…

Coach McDaniels: "I think there's a possibility that we would do the right thing regardless of the position, just in terms of the team. So, like I said, Chandler [Jones] went down, Denzel [Perryman] went down. Rushing those guys back. Divine [Deablo] is another one. I mean, there are a lot of things that could go into this, so I'm not going to get up here and prognosticate everything at this point. Like I said, we're going to get in here and coach the game and correct that, and then I think in due time make the right decisions hopefully to protect those guys who we should protect relative to health, and then also do the right thing for the organization as we go forward."

Q: Was it just a game flow that kind of made the game go away from Josh Jacobs?

Coach McDaniels: “No, it wasn't. I give them credit. They were kind of – in a nutshell, we would put one group out there, and then they would put a group out there with one more big guy than what we had. I don't want to get into the specifics of it, but there were times where they were out there with three defensive backs and a 4-4 front against our personnel grouping, and it made it very difficult to just keep slamming runs in there because you're either going to ask Mack Hollins to block a linebacker, which is just not good football in that regard. So, part of their plan, like I said, they did a decent job of trying to discourage that as much as they could. We felt like we made some adjustments that helped us as the game went on. But we didn't have the ball much in the second half, and that's our fault. We kind of created a negative play and then it was third and long, and then a penalty. We had a third and 25, so, I mean, those situations are our responsibility. When you can't play the game first and 10, second and five, third and two, first and 10, second and four, it's hard to find any rhythm quite honestly. And I would say in the second half, we didn't do a very good job offensively of establishing any rhythm. We were behind the sticks too much. We didn't make enough positive plays. We hurt ourselves with negative plays and penalties. And for that reason, (Jacobs) didn't get the touches that we certainly want to give him. I love the guy. He should have the ball more than any other player in our team, and he has. And so, I love his passion, his fight. He wants he wants to help us win in any way that he can, and we got to do a better job of being productive so we can stay out of those situations where the running game becomes difficult to stick with."

Q: Josh Jacobs obviously expressed his emotions after the game. What are your thoughts about that, and does it warrant any kind of a conversation at all?

Coach McDaniels: “No. Look, our guys want to win. There’s been a handful of guys who have done that. It's an emotional sport. It's an emotional game. Hell, I wasn't real excited after the game either, and so I think the reality is you're allowed to be frustrated. I think you handle it in the right way, and you do things the right way. And JJ expressed his feelings, and it is what it is, you're going to have that at times. But I've said this a number of times, I love the guy and I think he stands for the right things, and he wants to help us win, and he should, and he has. So, look, there are a lot of things that that are going to, I'd say, be evaluated here as we go forward and try to make decisions that are in the best interest of our team and our organization, and like we've talked about a number of times this year, we've got to try to create something that's sustainable so that we're not sitting here having this conversation next year and beyond.

Q: The lost leads in the second half of season, is there a unifying theme, or is it just basically game by game?

Coach McDaniels: “Yeah, I mean, look, they're all different. Each game is different. And this one, we're ahead and we needed to get further ahead. The longer you give an opponent in this league an opportunity to keep taking swings at you to try to take the lead when it's a seven-point game, a four-point game, whatever it is – I don't know how many possessions they had in the second half, six, or whatever it was – I mean you give them that many opportunities, at some point, they have good coaches and good players over there and they make some plays, and that's what happened. So, we have a lead, we have to create a bigger lead, and that's just the way that the league goes. And if you don't, then you're going to have to play great defense the entire game and hold them to single digits and all that to win, and that's difficult to do.

Q: When you are looking at guys and you see all their physical talents, do you also weigh the mental mistakes and things they cost you to determine whether or not what their future is with the Raiders?

Coach McDaniels: “Absolutely. I mean, I think there are a lot of things that go into this. Obviously, they're all talented. They wouldn't be here if they weren't, so that's one thing. But their ability to handle pressure, their ability to think and react and adjust during the course of the game, their ability to adjust week to week with the game plan and then be able to go out and execute it with their teammates, their ability to communicate. That's a huge part of every team's ability to win and play good football. Their value in terms of overall position flexibility, what they give us in the kicking game, what they give us on their unit. Can they play more than one role? Their durability, their ability to be available for us as many weeks as possible. So, everything is going to get evaluated in that regard. And then, look, you want to try to create a team that's tough, smart and dependable under pressure, and is durable and can handle adversity. That's what we're trying to aim for. I don't know that it's a finished product yet. We're going to do everything we can to win these last two games starting with San Fran this week and then we'll see what happens after that.”

Q: You said you couldn't look at what other teams were doing in terms of the playoff picture, but everything kind of fell into place positively except for your result. How much more frustration does that add? Or is there still some glimmer of a small percentage of a chance?

Coach McDaniels: “I mean, look, the frustration was with the result of the game that we didn't do enough coaching or playing to win it. At this point, I think all the energy you spend doing that is unnecessary. I don't know really what it helps us do or accomplish this week. So, like I said, we're going to coach the game, correct things we can correct this week, and then move on to the next one and do everything we can to win this one. And then, like I said, we don't control those other factors. The only thing we can control is ourselves and our performance, which there is plenty to fix.”

Q: Do you have any updates on Chandler Jones and Denzel Perryman?

Coach McDaniels: “No update other than they both, I'd say, incurred some injuries that could affect their ability to play again this year. We don't have all the things we need in terms of imaging and those kinds of things. So, that's all being done today, and we'll have more information obviously after this afternoon.”

The Raiders return to action next Sunday on New Year's Day at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas versus the San Francisco 49ers. That game kicks off at 4:05 p.m. EST/1:05 p.m. PST and can be seen on FOX.

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