Jon Gruden taking responsibility for Raiders offensive struggles, ‘I’m not going to put it all on Derek’

It’s fair to say the season has not gotten off to the start that the Raiders and Derek Carr had hoped for. After a week one performance that had many believing the Raiders would be a much improved team this year, they followed that up with two embarrassing, blowout losses.

All three phases have played poorly the last two weeks but there’s one person in particular who has been catching the brunt of the fan base’s unhappiness: Derek Carr. And rightfully so, he is not only the highest paid player on the roster but also the 9th highest paid quarterback in the league.

In week one, Carr looked comfortable, in control, and executed the game plan efficiently. In weeks two and three he looked skittish, unsure of himself, and more willing to take what the defense gives him rather than challenging them.

In the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game in Minnesota, AP’s Josh Dubow listed the results of the Raiders previous 17 Raider drives.

Underwhelming to say the least considering the amount of money invested in the quarterback and head coach who is supposedly an offensive play calling guru. It’s hard not to point the finger at the quarterback for the offenses struggles but according to Jon Gruden, it’s not his fault.

“I think he’s done some good things,” said Gruden of his QB when asked about the recent struggles on offense. “I’m not going to put it all on Derek. We take responsibility as the play caller. I’m calling the plays and I’m designing some of the stuff, so I put it on myself.”

Gruden is right, he deserves much of the blame for his play calling. By his own admission, Josh Jacobs has not been involved nearly as much in the passing game and last week against the Vikings Darren Waller did not receive his first target until midway though the second quarter. Waller is one of the real threats on offense, and although he did end his day with some gaudy numbers, the score was 21-0 by the time he was involved in the game.

If the Raiders are going to turn their offensive struggles around they will need both Gruden and Carr to be better.

“I’m not going to sit here and say that we are a finished product yet,” Gruden continued. “We’ve gone through a lot of change through the first three weeks and we played two really good teams, actually three really good defenses, in back-to-back weeks.”

Whatever the reason for the team’s offensive struggles, the fan base is already growing restless just three weeks into the season. Throughout the offseason rumblings of the Raiders looking to replace Carr were getting louder and louder as the draft drew nearer.

Obviously the Raiders did not draft a quarterback, but expect that conversation to start heating up again if things do not improve.