The Raiders are getting a large dose of Jon Gruden this week and are finding he’s a much different head coach than anyone they’ve played for.
At organized team activities this past week, veteran Oakland players have talked about Gruden and the impact he’s having on a team that is trying to rebound from a 6-10 record in 2017, that led to the firing of head coach Jack Del Rio.
In fact, tight end Jared Cook told reporters Gruden’s entire staff has taken on Gruden’s personality. Even the assistants are vocal, passionate and energetic.
“He (Gruden) brings the intensity,” Cook told reporters. “He brings the energy even in the meeting rooms. The meetings aren’t just sitting here and going over plays, talking through the plays, talking about the plays. He demands reaction from you, he wants to hear from you what is your assignment. So he asks you a lot of questions in these meetings. There’s no shortage of energy at all. He brings it every day and he expects it from us as well.”
Cook said Gruden’s energy level is amazing.
“Man, I don’t know how many cups of coffee he drinks every morning, but he’s up there on it, man,” he told Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com.
Defensive end Bruce Irvin told media members that Gruden’s face turns red when he gets intense, and it’s red throughout practices in OTAs. Plus, Irvin says he gets Gruden, because Gruden is a trash-talker just as he is.
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“So we get along,” said Irvin. “He speaks his mind, I speak my mind. I come to work, he comes to work. You couldn’t ask to work with a (better) person like that, a guy who is football, football, football. That’s all it’s about, winning and football. That’s the type of coach you want in the building.”
Cook says Gruden “makes you like football again” and is getting buy-in from the entire team. Quarterback Derek Carr says he loves being challenged by Gruden. The challenge is constant, he says, in practices, meetings and every interaction they have. Carr believes that will bring out his best in 2018.
“He just continues to push me to get absolutely everything out of me,” Carr told Eddie Paskal of the team’s website. “It’s been really cool. I’m not going to lie. It’s been a blessing, that’s for sure.”
