By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The Las Vegas Raiders and COVID-19 issues.
Raiders coach Jon Gruden claimed Monday he hasn’t heard anything about more fines or losing draft picks over the Raiders violating NFL coronavirus pandemic protocols.
“I don’t know who’s reporting that and I really don’t know who said that, but I’m not going to react to that. I have not heard anything from anybody other than what they have seen us do is extremely positive. We have renovated our facility. We have done everything we can to follow protocol. We’re excited about beating the virus. Hopefully, the good news that is taken out of these contexts is Trent Brown is fine, he’s getting better. We’re looking forward to having the big fella back at right tackle,” Gruden told the media today.
Ten Raiders players were fined for violating NFL COVID-19 protocols for attending tight end Darren Waller’s fund-raider in Henderson and even Gruden has been fined for not wearing a face covering.
The NFL and NBC also moved Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from a prime time TV slot to a 1:05 PM local start in Las Vegas.
Gruden said the novel coronavirus is affecting everyone from President Donald Trump to Alabama football coach Nick Saban.
Here’s his take: “We don’t have any issues. We had a guy get the virus on the Bye Week. We had a guy perhaps didn’t use his tracer. We’re not the only team in the league, just so you know, that has had people catch the virus. You can do your research on that and make sure we’re all on the same page.
“Everybody in the country and in the world is dealing with the virus, including the President of the United States. It’s a problem for coaches, you can ask Nick Saban, you can ask a lot of college coaches. We’re doing everything we can to beat the virus. We’re going to continue to do it. I just encourage everybody out there if you’re listening to this, you do the same,” Gruden said.
We’re on the cutting edge of beating the virus — Raiders coach Jon Gruden
The Raiders hit the road for a game against the Cleveland Browns Sunday. The Raiders broke out of the gate with a 2-0 record, including a big Monday Night Football win over the New Orleans Saints Sept. 21. But then the team lost three of four games, though the Raiders went to Kansas City and defeated the defending Super Bowl champs for the Chiefs’ sole loss this season.