Late in the Raiders 35-28 loss to the Falcons Sunday, Jack Del Rio shook some things up, including taking over at least some of the defensive play calling duties from Ken Norton Jr. Was it a one-time thing or will it continue? Del Rio isn’t saying
“There’s not going to be any proclamation made today,” Del Rio said of whether he will take over play calling duties. “I think for us it’s about us. It’s a collective effort. We all share in it and so I’m not going to throw any one person under the bus. It’s not any one person that’s at fault here. Collectively as a group, we have to pick it up. We have to do our share.”
A definitive answer of Del Rio taking over play calling would suggest he blames Norton for the failings of the defense, something he is unwilling to do so early into their second season together in Oakland.
When this staff was assembled last year, they prided themselves on being teachers. Del Rio blames the issues on defense on mental lapses, which he places on himself and the staff for not properly preparing them. He says that comes before any talk of who will be making the calls on defense.
“Who sends the call in is not what’s most important,” Del Rio said. “Priority number one has to be getting our guys to stop having eye violations. Get your eyes where they belong and do your job.”
“We’re all accountable. It starts with me. I laid that out there yesterday and we’ll work hard at it. We’ll get this thing headed in the right direction on defense. There’s some good things going on right now. . .(but) I’m not going to go there. We’ll take our medicine and move on.”
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