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Not many expected the Las Vegas Raiders to be a playoff team in 2024, but few could’ve foreseen them being arguably the worst team in the NFL. The Raiders are tied with the New York Giants for the worst record in the league and things have looked much worse under Antonio Pierce this season than they did when he was the interim head coach last year.
Pierce’s status has come into question. Owner Mark Davis doesn’t want to go through yet another head coaching search but isn’t going to double down on Pierce if he’s not the right fit. Davis has some interesting comments about the coach’s future.
“I don’t even want to talk about that right now,” Davis said of Pierce’s future at the NFL owners’ meetings, via Tashan Reed of The Athletic. “We’re still playing through the season.”
That’s not exactly a vote of confidence from the owner. While it’s clear that Davis is going to keep his options open, he did have some good things to say about Pierce.
“The one thing that this team has done is they’ve fought hard,” Davis said. “In every game, they’re fighting hard. That’s something that you don’t find all the time when things aren’t as good as you want them to be. That’s a positive, the way that this team has responded.”
Mark Davis Disappointed in the Season
Since Davis took over the Raiders in 2011, the team has been to the playoffs just twice and hasn’t won any playoff games. He’s taken a lot of big swings trying to get the team going in the right direction but now they might be worse than they ever have been during his time as owner.
He made it clear that he’s not thrilled with how this season has gone.
“I’m very disappointed, obviously. I want to see progress,” Davis said. “There’s no excuses. We have injuries and all of those things, but your team has to figure out how to get around those issues. The bottom line … is it comes down to me. And, if there’s going to be a finger pointed, it should be at me because, again, I’m the one who’s hiring the people who make the decisions on the field.
“There’s a misconception that I’m making a lot of decisions on the football field, but I continue to tell y’all that I don’t. I delegate to the people who I hire. I give them goals. And then I get out of the way and let them try to do it and let the results speak for themselves. At this point, obviously, we’re not happy, but you have to go through the season and then we’ll re-evaluate. Right now, I’m not in that position of evaluating anything going forward.”
Davis Talks Tom Telesco & Need for QB
While Pierce could be on the hot seat, general manager Tom Telesco’s status is less clear. That said, Davis said that they will be evaluated on an individual basis.
“They didn’t come in as a team,” Davis said. “They are individuals.”
One thing that Davis said may indicate that there’s no plan to move on from Telesco yet. When asked about the team’s plans at quarterback, he directed the media to the general manager.
“You’d have to talk to Tom Telesco,” Davis said. “And, of course, Tom Brady at some point will have something to say on that.”
It seems like Telesco has a more secure job right now than Pierce based on Davis’ comments.
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Raiders Owner Mark Davis Has Strong Words for Antonio Pierce & Tom Telesco