Patrick Graham Puts Raiders Defense on Notice With Fiery Message: ‘I’m so Tired’
The Las Vegas Raiders‘ coaching staff has been a revolving door at most positions, but one person who has stuck around is defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. He’s survived three different regimes, and this is just his fourth season with the team.
There have been times when Graham has had the Raiders’ defense playing a very high level, but things are off to a tough start this season. The Raiders currently have a -6 turnover differential, which is the second-worst in the NFL.
It doesn’t help that quarterback Geno Smith leads the NFL with nine interceptions, but the Las Vegas defense only has four takeaways on the season. Graham appears to be getting frustrated with the continued struggles on defense for the Raiders.
He had a stern message for his defense ahead of the Week 6 game against the Tennessee Titans.
“I’m so tired — I’m trying to be mindful of my language — of talking about whatever it is we got to do,” Graham said during a Thursday press conference. “You just have to make it happen. You got to take the ball away. However it happens, that’s what we got to do.”
Graham Talks Replacing Germaine Pratt
Before the Raiders’ Week 5 game against the Colts, it was revealed that linebacker Germaine Pratt wasn’t traveling with the team. It didn’t take long for the team to announce that he was being released.
It’s still not clear exactly what happened, but it couldn’t have been performance-related, as Pratt was playing well for the team. For his part, Graham didn’t sound thrilled that he would no longer have Pratt to use and spoke about how the defense could go about replacing him.
“I’m looking forward to the defense stepping up, just in general,” Graham said. “Just the linebacker position, you know, it’s going to take all 11 out there. We’ll see who’s out there playing and things of that nature, but it’s going to take a, you know, good effort to replace a good player like that.”
Brian Callahan Talks Raiders Reunion
The Raiders host the Titans and head coach Brian Callahan in Week 6. Notably, Callahan was the team’s quarterback coach in 2018 and is the son of Bill Callahan, who is the last Raiders head coach to win a playoff game.
Callahan has fond memories of the Raiders and is looking forward to coaching against his former team.
“We’ve got a lot of Raiders on our staff,” Callahan said, via Raiders.com. “A lot of guys that have spent a lot of time there. I was in high school when my dad was there. They had a lot of success over those years and those were my first – I was a fan. I was a fan of the team. I was always excited to go. It was great environments to go play in when they were at the Coliseum in Oakland. Then I got a chance to go coach there for a year. I have fond memories in that silver and black and those gamedays and some of the wins over the years when I was following along as a high school kid and spending time there.”
Giants HC Brian Daboll Under Investigation for Handling of Jaxson Dart’s Concussion
The New York Giants made a statement on "Thursday Night Football" with a convincing 34-17 win against the Philadelphia Eagles. However, Giants head coach Brian Daboll also made a head-scratching error that could lead to a fine.
Brian Daboll under investigation for interfering with concussion protocol
According to The Athletic's Mike Jones and Charlotte Carroll, the NFL and NFL Players Association announced a joint investigation into whether Daboll violated the league's concussion protocol by appearing to rush medical personnel during a concussion screening of rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart.
"The NFL initiated a review of the application of the concussion protocol involving New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart during last night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles," officials from the NFL and players' union said in a statement. "That review will be conducted jointly with the NFLPA under the parties' collective bargaining agreement."
In the third quarter of the game, Dart was hit by Eagles linebacker Patrick Johnson and was clearly hurt, holding his head in pain. The Giants' medical staff rushed onto the field to check on Dart, and the independent concussion spotter decided the rookie had to head to the blue medical tent.
Per the league's concussion protocol, only medical personnel deemed essential for the athlete's care are allowed to be present in the tent for evaluation. Daboll got close to poking his head in, and shortly after that unnecessary visit, fellow rookie Cam Skattebo — who's also not essential medical personnel — ran in to check in on Dart.
Later, Daboll was seen having an animated conversation with the team doctor. According to Daboll, he was trying to clarify when Dart would be ready to return to the field. "I'm like, is he gonna be good or not, cause I'm gonna call a timeout on fourth down and go for this," Daboll explained light-heartedly in a postgame news conference.
On Friday, Daboll reiterated that he only wanted to see how long the evaluation would take. He didn't want to rush the process and emphasized that Dart's health came first. Giants owner John Mara also weighed in on Friday, as he's a member of the NFL competition committee regarding health and player safety.
"I spoke to Coach Daboll this morning about approaching the medical tent last night. While I firmly believe, as he has stated, that he was not trying to influence the process in any way, he understands that the appearance of going to the tent is inappropriate," Mara said in a statement. "We have protocols in place as a league to ensure player safety, and we need to allow our medical staff to execute those protocols without interference."
Jaxson Dart is a high-risk, high-reward runner
Overall, this appears to have been an avoidable situation. Daboll's concern for the rookie quarterback he's banking on to save his job is understandable, but even appearing to risk a player's health is a bad look for any coach.
In college, Dart was defined by his reckless abandon when running the ball. His gritty style of play has produced results in the NFL, though, especially on Thursday when he scrambled for a 20-yard touchdown. Dart's mobility also allowed him to avoid pressure and connect with Wan'Dale Robinson on the move for a 35-yard touchdown. Dart has also been evaluated for a concussion three times this year.
With all that passion and energy leading to results on the field — results that the Giants have been sorely lacking in recent years — it'll be hard to convince Dart to slide more. At the very least, the head coach can set a better example for the impressionable rookie and let the doctors do their job.
