Getty Jerry Tillery (90) is surrounded by Raiders teammates after a late hit penalty.
When the Raiders talk, as they’ve done often in the last few days (and weeks for that matter) about playing smarter and not doing damage to their own NFL fortunes—self-inflicted wounds have been one of their specialties in this 1-3 start—there’s probably no play that better sums their meaning than the Jerry Tillery play.
And you know the one—Sunday against the Chargers in Los Angeles, Tillery hustled to the sideline as L.A. quarterback Justin Herbert was running and, with Herbert clearly stepping out of bounds, Tillery unloaded on him, sending Herbert to the turf. It was as clear an example of a late hit as there is.
Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said on Monday that he has spoken to Tillery about the play.
“I talked with him about it, we specifically discussed it,” McDaniels said. “I thought he was making a great effort to get over there. As we saw later on, Herbert, he’s a big guy and when he chooses to keep running and go down the sideline and all the rest of it, he can actually make some yards and is a problem when he has the ball in his hand. So, I give Jerry credit for the effort.
“At that point, the burden is on the defense. If the player steps into the white, you gotta not hit him. That’s always the potential to come up when the runner is on the sideline, and we just have to pull off at the last second and not hit him, not make contact.”
Trent Green on Tillery Play: ‘Holy Smokes’
McDaniels is being charitable. Fact is, it was a terrible penalty for a Raiders team that does not have a very wide margin for victory to begin with. At the time, the score was 10-7, Chargers, early in the second quarter, and L.A. was looking at a third down from around the Raiders’ 30-yard line.
Instead, the penalty gave the Chargers first-and-10 from the 14, setting up the team’s second touchdown. Tillery was ejected, and on the Raiders’ radio broadcast, the play was labeled, “boneheaded.” On the national TV broadcast, color commentator Trent Green simply said, “Holy smokes.”
“Holy smokes,” — Trent Green reacts as Jerry Tillery is disqualified for a late hit on Justin Herbert.
NFL rules analyst Gene Steratore then provides a lengthy explanation for why this was the right call.
There was little doubt that Tillery would be ejected on the play, and he is surely looking at a hefty fine this weekend when the league announces its financial penalties. McDaniels, though, would not say that he agreed with Tillery getting tossed.
“That’s not my call,” McDaniels said. “I understand the penalty, I don’t make the decision on the ejection. So that’s for them to decide.”
‘Gotta Make Better Decisions’
The penalties have been frustrating for the Raiders. They’ve been called for 28 penalties this season, and they rank 23rd overall with 7.0 penalties per game. They tend to commit the big penalties, though, and rank 29th in the league in penalty yardage, at 267 yards.
“A lot of the stuff is on us. A lot of the stuff, we did to ourselves,” star running back Josh Jacobs said on Sunday.
McDaniels said there is no common theme to the penalties he’s seen so far. But he intends to keep pushing his team to fix the problem.
“You saw ‘em. It wasn’t like it was it was seven offsides penalties, or seven offensive holding penalties or anything like that. The Tillery play, like I said, it was one step onto the white. It is what it is,” he said.
“It wasn’t one penalty that kept showing up. We just, again, the best thing we can do is keep educating, keep coaching it, keep talking about it. I think our guys want to play penalty-free. They’re not trying to commit penalties, I know that. We just gotta make better decisions in certain situations.”
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Josh McDaniels Addresses Raiders DT’s ‘Boneheaded’ Ejection