Las Vegas Raiders general manager Mike Mayock spoke to the media on Wednesday, two days after the stunning Jon Gruden email scandal led to the equally shocking resignation of the head coach.
Mayock and the rest of his organization have been put in a less-than-stellar situation after emails over the past decade were made public record displaying misogyny, homophobia and racism on the part of Gruden.
The embattled general manager opened his presser by indicating that the Raiders preach diversity, social justice and domestic violence. Mike Mayock also concluded that the Raiders have work to do on the field this season and no one is giving up five games in.
The Las Vegas Raiders currently sits at 3-2 on the campaign and one game out of first place in the AFC West. It’s lost to consecutive games after a surprising 3-0 start to the season.
As for the Gruden resignation, there’s some unintended consequences. That includes defensive end Carl Nassib, who came out as the first openly gay active NFL player this past off-season. Mayock told the media that the veteran requested a personal day on Wednesday “to process things.”
Jon Gruden resignation and the Las Vegas Raiders
“In regards to the Jon Gruden situation, we all respect his decisions, and we’re going to move ahead accordingly,” Mayock told reporters said. “As far as the team is concerned, bottom line, we’re 3-2. It’s Week 6. A lot of these interim head coach deals over the years, it’s like Week 15 and guys are already packing their bags. That’s not the case here. All of our goals are ahead of us.”
While Mayock might want to believe that professionals will put this past them and continue with the season unfettered, these players are not in a great situation. There’s a lot to be said about professionalism. There’s also human nature.
That became clear this past Sunday with a favored Las Vegas Raiders team losing to the Chicago Bears by the score of 20-9 at home.
It was an uninspiring effort from the team, a clear indication that Friday’s reveal of racist-themed emails on the part of Gruden played a role. Fast forward a few days, and the Raiders are now relying on former special teams coach Rich Bisaccia to lead the charge. It will be interesting to see how this team performs Sunday against the division-rival Denver Broncos. That will set the tone for the remainder of the season.
You can check out Mike Mayock’s entire press conference below.