Davis' Raiders currently have the worst record across the NFL through Week 10 GETTY IMAGES
Raiders Owner Mark Davis has "accepted blame" for the team's 1-8 start this season, according to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com. He said, "I always look in the mirror, and the buck stops with me. Where this team is right now is my fault." The Raiders traded star LB Khalil Mack to the Bears before the start of the season, and Davis said coach Jon Gruden "wanted him" to stay. Davis: "Everybody thinks that Jon's the one who wanted to get rid of him. Jon wanted him badly. Why wouldn't you want this guy? [Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie] wanted him badly. And I wanted him badly, too. But, if in fact we were going to give the type of money that we were going to give to him, and we had [QB Derek Carr] on that type of a (contract), how were we going to go ahead and build this football team, with all the holes that we had?" Meanwhile, Gutierrez noted the Raiders do not have a "lease for a home next year," while the city of Oakland is "threatening a lawsuit against the team." Davis said that he would "prefer to stay in Oakland for one last season." He 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." Davis added, "Why would I give them $3, $4, $5 million in rent that they're going to turn around and use to sue me? But, at the same time, if they'll have us, I can't turn on the fans. I can't do it. And this is terrible negotiating I'm doing now. I'm going to get killed. But that's just the way I am" (ESPN.com, 11/11).
REACTING TO DAVIS' WORDS: ESPN’s Trey Wingo noted Davis can "say this and it sounds great, but at the end of the day, this is what he signed up for when he signed Jon Gruden to that 10-year contract." That gave Gruden "all the power in the world to shape this roster any way he wanted." Wingo: "When you trade away the only two first-round picks since 2004 that have made the Pro Bowl for you, what the hell did you expect?” (“Golic & Wingo,” ESPN Radio, 11/12). PFT’s Mike Florio said of Raiders Owner Mark Davis taking blame for his team’s rough season, “Do we understand the implication of what he's saying? What he's saying is this is Reggie McKenzie's fault. Why didn't he fire Reggie McKenzie if this is what he believes? He's being fed this by Jon Gruden, and the next act is Reggie McKenzie being out and Jon Gruden bringing someone in that will set the table the way Gruden wants” (“PFT,” NBCSN, 11/12).
