Raiders Coach Jon Gruden On Fan-less Allegiant Stadium: ‘You Want To Cut It Loose With Your New Fan Base and It Is Disappointing’
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Four questions from Jon Gruden’s media session Thursday.
Question: How disappointing is it that there will be no fans in Allegiant Stadium this year?
Gruden: Yeah, I mean disappointing for all of sports honestly. Certainly, you see that stadium and you want to go in there and you want to cut it loose with your new fan base and it is disappointing, but we are not the only team that feels that. We are doing what we feel is right for the safety and health of everybody and hopefully we beat this virus soon and we can get back to normal.
Question: Have you seen that “awe factor” in the new facility? Is everyone locked in and ready to go?
Gruden: It’s a weird time right now because we haven’t utilized our entire facility. We haven’t had a team meeting, we haven’t had a group quarterback meeting or an offensive meeting or defensive meeting. Everything is on quarantine. A lot of this facility is off limits. We have done an unbelievable job, from a safety standpoint, to protect our players and coaches and employees here. But, players that have been with the Raiders for many years are just starstruck with this facility. I think the new players all respect it and really appreciate it. And I really thank the owner, Mark Davis again, and [president] Marc Badain for the vision they had putting this football factory together. It’s going to give every coach that coaches here ever reason to win.
Question: What sort of contingencies are you putting in place in terms of coaching staff with COVID-19, whether you might be without a coach?
Gruden: Yeah, we’ve split our coaching staff into two groups. We have two fields working at the same time. We change the players and the coaches every day, so everybody gets a chance to interact with one another. We’ve got a lot of depth on this staff. A lot of young coaches that are on the rise, so we are preparing for any contingency plans that could come up.
Question: Do you anticipate there being any more player opt-outs from the Raiders before the deadline today?
Gruden: I don’t know. I don’t anticipate any. A lot of guys have opted out, that’s their decision and we respect it, but I have no other candidates to announce today.
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