Chargers head coach Brandon Staley’s job security was a popular topic of conversation around the team before Thursday night’s game in Las Vegas, but it was just about the only one after their matchup with the Raiders came to an end.
The Raiders demolished the Chargers 63-21 and Staley said after the game that he doesn’t know if he will continue to be employed despite his belief in his fitness for the position. It doesn’t help Staley’s cause that safety Derwin James and edge rusher Khalil Mack both called the result “embarrassing,” but the veteran defenders’ answers to questions about the team’s belief in Staley were more heartening for the coach.
James said Staley has “been there from the start with us and we know what we’ve been through” and that “a lot of times he makes a great call and we just mess it up as players” while explaining why he believes the team still believes in Staley.
“You talk about believing in a coach? Of course, we believe in him and he believes in us,” Mack said, via Bridget Condon of NFL Media. “There can’t be a disconnect when you love this shit the way that I do. We just have to perform a lot better.”
Staley hasn’t shown the ability to get the team to do that consistently and Thursday night was the latest in a long list of head-scratching defeats. It may now be too long for anything James, Mack or anyone else has to say to register as sound arguments against making a change.