Before the Raiders set sail for Las Vegas in 2020, the franchise has one more season in Oakland and it won’t be easy. Coach Jon Gruden isn’t simply concerned with building a cohesive unit on a team with an abundance of new players. There’s another factor at play.
“We got a tough schedule, man,” Gruden told NBC Sports’ Peter King. “We got a hell of a schedule.”
Perhaps most daunting, the Raiders have a stretch of 48 days without a game in their home stadium. Technically, one contest counts as a home affair, but it’s in London against the Bears.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that,” Gruden told King of the 48-day home hiatus. “One of the games is in London, and we fly from [Indianapolis] after a game to get there.”
The Raiders play their opening two games in Oakland before road contests against the Vikings and Colts and then fly to London, as Gruden mentioned. After a bye, the team travels again to play the Packers and Texans and return home for a game against the Lions November 3.
Coach Gruden knows the schedule can’t be an excuse, however. He told King the team has to put on a good show during those 48 days, rather than complain about it; Gruden said some players have already complained about other things.
“You gotta have guys that love football instead of loving some of the things that come with it now,” Gruden said. “Forty-eight days in a row on the road, I can hear the bitching. We’re the sports bitchers now. We don’t have a cafeteria here so the food gets brought in. You hear some guys, they first get here, ‘Are we ever gonna get new food? Are we gonna get a new weight room? Are we gonna get more supplements?’ You know? Doesn’t matter. It’s a great place, man. Great opportunity. Gets tiring though.”
It sounds like some newly acquired players have complaints, but Gruden said he’s counting on two new additions to lead the way. Rookie defensive end Clelin Ferrell and rookie safety Johnathan Abrams were both labeled by Gruden as guys that love football and would play ‘on the asphalt.’
But it will take more than those two to pull through the difficult 48-day stretch, not to mention the remainder of the schedule, which has Oakland playing seven games at 10 a.m. Pacific standard time. The Raiders plan to head to Las Vegas on a high note, however. They’ll have to navigate their last schedule as Oakland Raiders to do so, preferably with no complaints.
