The Las Vegas Raiders are struggling at 1-4 with four straight losses.
The Pete Carroll era has started much rougher than expected and there has bene some odd happenings for the team that may suggest issues persist beyond the playing field.
Let’s look at some of the developments that have happened so far:
The JPJ thing:
During the offseason program, it appeared second-year player Jackson Powers-Johnson was set at center. Then training camp started and the team inserted Jordan Meredith at center and put
Powers-Jackson in a competition with veteran signing Alex Cappa that extended into the regular season. Powers-Jackson is a promising young talent and the coaching staff appeared to be playing games with him which can hurt a young player. Powers-Jackson is healthy and has settled down the past two weeks, but it was a odd situation.
Germaine Pratt release:
Monday, the Raiders released starting linebacker Germaine Pratt after a very fast, weird development. Friday, the team announced Pratt would not travel to Indianapolis and the only reason given was it was not injury related. Sunday, Carroll said Pratt, who signed with the team this summer, Carroll declined to get deep into the subject of Pratt not going to Indianapolis, only stating the team decided to go with other players at the position. That was a clear sign something was going on with Pratt. Monday, Carroll gave the same, short reasoning for the team moving away from Pratt. It is safe to assume if there was an issue that developed last week between Pratt and the team. Starting players aren’t just released out of the blue like this. The veteran played 88 percent of the defensive snaps in the first four games of the season and the 25 tackles. Pratt, 29, was quickly signed by the Raiders this summer right away the Cincinnati Bengals released him. He was a core defender for the Raiders until he wasn’t. He joins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins as starting defensive players who have been released by Las Vegas since the start of training camp.
Jeanty’s stance:
Before the season, Las Vegas offensive coordinator Chip Kelly had first-round pick, running back Ashton Jeanty drop his famous stand-up stance in the backfield for a more traditional crouched stance. Jeanty clearly wasn’t comfortable. In Week 4 he went back to his Boise State stance and proceeded to have his best NFL game. After the game, Carroll was asked about the switch and eh said “I love it.” That’s all it took? Shouldn’t Kelly and Carroll figured this out sooner?
Raheem Mostert handling:
Veteran free-agent signing Raheem Mostert was inactive for the first three games. It led to question why would a team keep a 33-year old running back on the roster and not play him. Then, he was active in Week 4 and had a nice game. This was poor evaluation.
Brock Bowers injury:
Bowers suffered a knee injury in Week 1, but played through Week 4. Then, in Week 5, he started missing practices and was ruled out of the Colts game. Sunday, Carroll said Bowers was “day-to-day.” Monday, it became “week-to-week.” The Raiders prolonged the injury of their best offensive players and all they got out of it was three losses. ESPN reported Bowers was unwilling to sit and that’s why he played through the injury. The reality is the team makes calls for players and must have their best interest in mind This is on the coaching and medical staffs, not the player.
Conclusion:
Things have been rocky and there have been reports that there has been some tension between some players and the coaching staff. Carroll was brought in because he was a veteran coach and he was expected to bring stability. Yet, that hasn’t happened and the team seems to have regressed from last season overall. Things can change, but it’s been a rough start to the Carroll era.
