Raiders owner Mark Davis said this week that head coach Josh McDaniels is doing a “fantastic job” despite the team falling to 2-7 after a loss to the Colts that led to quarterback Derek Carr choking up during his postgame press conference.
Others have a different view of the job that McDaniels has done in Las Vegas, but Davis was adamant that he will give McDaniels time to turn things around after hiring him earlier this year. Davis’ words were met with a much happier response from the quarterback.
Carr said he is “so happy to hear that Mr. Davis feels that way” and that the comments “just gave us a breath” that allows the team to focus on football rather than wonder if there might be another coaching change.
“Let’s just get better,” Carr said, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com. “Let’s work on being a better football team. Let’s go out and win all these games. Let’s go try and do all that, of course, but let’s just be a better football team. It kind of let us know, the process, trust that process. There is a process and we do have time during the season 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, ‘Whew, thank goodness.’ That kind of thing.”
Carr’s run with the Raiders has lasted through several coaches and another shakeup might result in an end to that tenure, so an endorsement of the current head coach is one that, at least in the immediate term, extends to him as well. The final eight games of the year will likely determine how much rope everyone has left with the Raiders.