Raiders Coach Sends Strong Message to ‘Frustrated’ Star
Since Antonio Pierce has taken over as the head coach in Las Vegas, the offensive philosophy has been very clear. The Raiders want to run the ball, to use running back Josh Jacobs as much as possible to set the tone for a team built around an excellent defense and a shaky rookie quarterback.
Thus we saw it in Pierce’s first week as Raiders coach. Josh Jacobs: 26 carries, 98 yards.
And we saw it in Pierce’s second week as Raiders coach. Josh Jacobs, 27 carries, 116 yards.
But in the third week, the loss on Sunday against Miami, Jacobs had only 14 carries. Those carries did not go well, either, (39 yards) one of the main reasons the Raiders offense had a hard time finding a rhythm.
Still, on Monday, Pierce had a message for Jacobs. Stay patient. Stay consistent.
“Just being consistent,” Pierce told reporters in his press conference. “Obviously, we don’t want those touches to be at that 14 mark, that’s not our number. Our magic number is 20-plus. We gotta stay with it. It’s not always pretty, there are some one-yards and two-yards in there. Yesterday, there were some fives and eight and nines, and we just gotta remember that as we’re calling it, and stick with it.
Josh Jacobs ‘Frustrated’ With Poor Numbers vs. Miami
Pierce conceded that it has not been easy for Josh Jacobs this season, and that he was “frustrated” on Sunday. The disorganization of the offense all year, going back to when Josh McDaniels was coaching the team, affected everyone, but probably Jacobs more than anyone.
You have to go all the way down to the No. 7 slot on the NFL rushing chart to find Josh Jacobs this year, with 661 yards. Last year, he was No. 1 in the NFL by a longshot, with 1,653 yards, 115 more than No. 2 on the list.
“I give Josh a lot of credit, he’s very patient,” Pierce said. “Frustrated, like we all were, with the result yesterday and obviously, I’ve said since I gotten here, we’ll run through Josh Jacobs. That opens up everything. … It opens up for our entire offense, and our O-line, it helps everybody out. That will be the plan. Everybody knows. We got the best running back in football, and we’re gonna use him. We need to use him.”
Raiders Offense Must Rally Around AOC
The Raiders have that capability. The offensive line has been solid this season, with a run-blocking grade that ranks 13th in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus, and a pass-blocking grade that ranks seventh. But teams key on stopping Jacobs because they don’t fear Aidan O’Connell.
Until he can tamp down his mistakes, be more consistent and make defenses worry about him a bit more, it will be tough sledding for Jacobs. That will be especially important this week against Kansas City, a team that is susceptible to the run—they rank 28th defending the rush, according to PFF.
Pierce wants to see the offense embrace O’Connell.
“That’s where you want the team to kind of rally around the guy,” he said. “Look around the National Football League, a lot of young quarterbacks are playing, a lot of young quarterbacks are struggling with young quarterbacks. A lot of guys do it really well. For two weeks for us, it went well, then we had one half that didn’t go the Raiders’ way.
“And again, as we talk about it, our leaders up front, from Kolton Miller to Tre (Tucker) to Josh Jacobs, (Davante Adams), they gotta put their arms around the young guys. Because, listen, we’ve all had rough days like that.” The offense, not to point fingers at anybody. You can’t do that. It’s a team effort when we win, it’s a team effort when we lose.”
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