Getty Darren Waller with Mark Davis.
Josh McDaniels appears to have the Las Vegas Raiders headed in the right direction. The team is on a two-game win streak and things are looking up. However, there was a moment when it looked like the coach could get fired at any moment.
Raiders owner Mark Davis came out after the Week 10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts and said that he had no intention to fire the coach this season. Now that the team is winning again, it’s most likely that Davis won’t have to go against his word. The players have expressed happiness with the fact that McDaniels isn’t getting let go. Davante Adams and Derek Carr have come out and offered support for the coach. Now tight Darren Waller has joined the choir of players supporting McDaniels.
In an interview with Heavy Sports, Waller urged patience with the team and appreciates Davis coming out to support the coach.
“I respect Mark Davis’ decision a lot because it’s tough in the face of adversity,” Waller said. “When things aren’t going anywhere in the way that you’d like them to go, results right out the gate, a lot of people are impatient, a lot of people want results now, they want to win now, especially when they see the talent on this roster … and I get that. But a lot of times when you’re actually involved in the process, things may take time, things may not go the way you want them to go. That’s part of being in the arena and competing, you’re not promised success, you’re not entitled to success.
“So it’s about trusting the process, you really want to build a culture that’s going to be sustainable, you can’t just throw things out or give up when things aren’t looking the way you want them to for a short period of time. So I really respect Mark Davis’ decision and I respect Josh … because I know it’s not easy mentally to be a human being you want things to go well, and the fact that they’re not like he showed a lot of poise and a lot of trust in the players and in the schemes and processes they bring to the table so I respect Mark for standing up for him.”
Waller Shares What He Wants to See From Raiders the Rest of the Season
The Raiders are 4-7 right now and have a ton of work to do if they hope to make the playoffs. Winning back-to-back games is a great step in the right direction but they need to get a couple of more wins in the coming weeks. Waller has missed the last six games but he remains a leader on the team and revealed what he wants to see from the Raiders for the rest of the season.
“I’ll say it’s consistency in making those plays down the stretch,” Waller said. “Just continuing to execute in crunch time because, I don’t know what the stat is, it’s probably like 75% of games aren’t tied in last two minutes and they’re one-score games. You get a team like the Minnesota Vikings – there’s really not much of a difference between us and them. They just execute plays down the finish and that’s what we gotta do and know that we have guys that have the ability to do that. So it’s all about execution.”
Eight of the Vikings’ nine wins this season have come by one score. Six of the Raiders’ seven losses have come by one score.
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Raiders Could Be Getting Reinforcement Soon
Waller told Heavy Sports that he’s hoping to return against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 14. It’s possible that Pro Bowl wide receiver Hunter Renfrow will also make his return. Having those two back would give the Raiders a big boost for a late-season charge. Beating the Chargers on Sunday and the Rams on Thursday would put the team at 6-7.
Las Vegas was 6-7 after 13 games last season before going on a four-game winning streak that got them into the playoffs. It’s won’t be easy but the Raiders could certainly recapture some of that magic if they can take care of business this week and have Waller and Renfrow return for the Rams.