ALAMEDA, Calif. _ In absence of specifics, Jon Gruden offered a promise regarding his struggling defense.
"We've got to play better, and we're going to play better, and there will be changes," Gruden said Monday at his weekly press conference. "There will be changes. What happened yesterday will not happen again. I can't allow it to happen."
Sounds reasonable the day after the Raiders gave up 552 yards and 9.4 yards per play in a 42-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Tennessee came in as a middle of the road offensive team, and the Raiders actually played much better in the previous week's 40-9 loss to a Kansas City team with far more firepower.
But given that the Raiders are giving up 6.1 yards per play this season, it's been an ongoing problem.
And it's not as if the waiver wire is full of defensive players that could step in and help or they'd be on somebody's roster.
Three defensive players were inactive against the Titans: cornerback Isaiah Johnson, defensive tackle Terrell McClain and linebacker Kyle Wilber. Wilber was declared out Friday with an ankle injury.
Linebackers who got their first action of the season included Marquel Lee (33 snaps) and Preston Brown (17 snaps).
Johnson, a fourth-round draft pick out of Houston, has been inactive for the last two games after coming off injured reserve on Oct. 14 following a fractured orbital bone in the first preseason. Gruden at one point said Johnson would be "the steal of this draft" but the coach appeared to be pumping the brakes in terms of getting him playing time.
"He's a converted wide receiver, he's not the most experienced corner," Gruden said. "He missed a lot of time. So to put him in there in prime time and say let's go might not be fair to him yet. But we're going to look at him. We're going to look at all options and we're going to try and play a hell of a lot better than we did yesterday."
Two defenders played exclusively on special teams in cornerback Keisean Nixon and safety Dallin Leavitt. Safety Curtis Riley and cornerback Nevin Lawson played 11 and nine snaps, respectively.
The following defensive players are on the Raiders' practice squad: cornerbacks Nick Nelson and Dylan Mabin, safety Jordan Brown and defensive back Kendall Donnerson.
So other than juggling the snap counts of players who have been seeing consistent time, it's not like Gruden and defensive coordinator Paul Guenther have a lot of meaningful options.
Whoever gets promoted or demoted, they'll be counted upon to improve a unit that gave up drives of 91 (on one play), 89 and 84 yards.
Gruden has spent all season talking about having good field position, and three times the Raiders had the Titans defensive backed up inside the 20 and gave up touchdowns.
"It's like getting punched in the stomach," Gruden said. "It knocks the wind out of you. Any time a team takes the ball the length of the field that many times, it's hard to do in this league ... sometimes you've got to win the game of field position. You've got to force a three-and-out and we weren't able to do that yesterday from the jump. Very, very concerned about it. We're going to make some changes and get it right."
The Raiders host the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, and given the progress on their new stadium in Las Vegas, it is expected to be the last home game in Oakland.
Stay tuned.
