The Las Vegas Raiders have lost four straight games, fallen to 3-4 and allowed at least 30 points in each of those losses. Klint Kubiak still sees his team “right in the thick of it,” and in an interview released by the club on Tuesday he said that is why Kirk Cousins stays at quarterback ahead of rookie Fernando Mendoza. “Kirk’s playing really good football for us and gives us a great chance to go win the game,” the Raiders head coach said, “and he knows that’s his job as a starter, is to go help the team win.”
“That’s something that we haven’t gotten done in four games”
Cousins leads the NFL with 16 touchdown passes and is closing in on 2,000 yards, and Kubiak started with his leadership: “Getting people on the same page, bringing a veteran presence, being accurate.” He also liked how Cousins has avoided sacks in “troubled pockets,” calling the ability to take a gain of zero instead of a loss “a trait that is great for Fernando to watch.” Kubiak said he expects conversations about the quarterback spot when a team has “a young talented player” behind the starter, but that the bigger issue is winning. “That’s something that we haven’t gotten done in four games, and that’s something that is a major point of emphasis,” he said, “being better as a team so we can go win games, and not just being better passing the football.”
More for Mike Washington Jr.
Ashton Jeanty had eight catches for 61 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s 35-21 loss to the Los Angeles Rams but only 15 rushing yards. Kubiak said Jeanty has taken “a major step forward this season” in his confidence as a receiver, whether he is matched up “on linebackers, on corners, it doesn’t matter.” Asked whether Mike Washington Jr., who is averaging 4.9 yards a carry, could get more work, he said: “Mike, every chance he gets, he’s in there. He’s making plays, and he deserves some. Yes.”
He called receiver Tre Tucker, who caught a 37-yard touchdown against the Rams, the kind of player “you want to go to battle with” when “you’re building a program,” because he blocks and works away from the ball even in games when he is not getting targets. He also praised linebackers Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker, who had 12 tackles each. Walker was questionable with a chest injury and played anyway. “He was hurting, and he laid it down for the silver and black,” Kubiak said. “Raider Nation needs to know that.”
“It’s not good enough”
The Rams led 28-6 at halftime, and Kubiak said the Raiders are still searching for the right group of defensive tackles. “We’re giving different guys a chance. We have to find the right mix of guys to get it going to stop the run,” he said, “because it’s not good enough, what happened last week.” Jets running back Braelon Allen ran for 104 yards against Miami on Sunday, and Kubiak expects New York to test the Raiders the same way. “If they watch our last game, then they’re going to be licking their chops,” he said. “So we’ve got to make sure we dial in the run defense.”
He called Geno Smith “one of the best passers in the league” and said the Jets’ No. 2 overall pick, edge rusher David Bailey, who has 5.5 sacks, “plays the run and the pass” and is “very disruptive.” Of Jets coach Aaron Glenn, whom he has coached against before, he said: “Always uber aggressive. … You see his mindset rub off on the way his players fly around.” The Jets are 2-5.
Fourth downs and an early wake-up
Las Vegas failed on a fourth-and-2 at the Rams’ 13 on Sunday, and Kubiak said his aggressiveness only works if the plays work. “When we get to fourth down, we’ve got to convert. When we get to two points, we’ve got to convert. And we haven’t done that,” he said. “So we’ve got to buck up and convert.”
The Raiders play at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, November 1, and Kubiak said the travel plan includes changes to practice this week “to make sure that we start faster.” “Whatever schedule that you have, at the end of the day, when it comes to kickoff on Sunday, our coaches and our players, we’ve got to get our butt out of bed, ready to go play football,” he said. “That’s our job as Raiders.”
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