Raiders’ immediate challenge: How do they salvage the season?

The Raiders’ regularly scheduled time disconnected connected Tuesday provided a accidental for players to digest the events of the erstwhile 24 hours successful private, distant from each the cameras and microphones.

That was a bully happening for a squad that is reeling successful the aftermath of the abrupt resignation 5 games into the play of caput manager Jon Gruden, who has been replaced connected an interim ground by peculiar teams and adjunct caput manager Rich Bisaccia.

Gruden resigned connected Monday aft a trove of emails emerged successful which helium utilized racially incentive, misogynistic and homophobic connection to disparage individuals and groups of radical implicit a seven-year period.

Keeping further distractions and upheaval to a minimum is the cardinal for the 3-2 Raiders implicit the remaining 12 games, a way that begins Sunday successful Denver against the 3-2 Broncos successful an AFC West showdown.

These are hard times for a young team, and it volition beryllium connected established leaders to supply a steadying influence. That means Derek Carr, Maxx Crosby, Yannick Ngakoue, Alec Ingold and others volition request to enarthrosis adjacent much of that responsibility.

The abrupt mode successful which the events unfolded has near the enactment and squad staggering. And Tuesday was a time to process the harmful words of their erstwhile caput manager and rapidly determination guardant successful a mode that salvages the remainder of the season.

Multiple players either declined to publically remark for this communicative oregon didn’t respond to requests for comment. Privately, though, respective players indicated they are determined to worker connected portion utilizing the contention arsenic a rallying outcry for the remainder of the season.

Or, arsenic a idiosyncratic with nonstop cognition of the situation, said: “The world is, what different prime bash they have? They cognize they person to determination on, quickly, due to the fact that this is inactive a bully shot squad and determination is inactive a batch near to play for.”

The constituent is good taken, and successful galore ways it perfectly describes however rapidly things person changed for the Raiders. Just implicit a week agone they were 3-0, Derek Carr was an MVP campaigner and the playoffs seemed possible.

In the span of six days, they fell to their part rival Los Angeles Chargers connected Monday Night Football, learned that their caput manager had utilized racially insenstive words to picture DeMaurice Smith, the caput of the NFL players union, past fell level successful a disorganized nonaccomplishment to the Chicago Bears successful a show that near galore wondering if the Gruden contention had affected their focus.

All of which culminated with Gruden announcing his resignation connected Monday.

The situation present is moving connected without Gruden, the undisputed shot person of the enactment connected and disconnected the field.

“He was virtually the look of the Raiders,” said the aforesaid person, who has nonstop penetration into the team.

Gruden’s dense manus was progressive successful each aspects of the operation, including assembling the roster or, successful the lawsuit of Carr, sticking with him successful spite of truthful galore others predicting helium would commercialized him astatine the archetypal imaginable opportunity.

Gruden besides handpicked the coaching unit and advocated for wide manager Mike Mayock, who came aboard successful 2019 aft Gruden’s archetypal play backmost astatine the helm.

Gruden’s was a commanding voice, and his departure creates astatine the slightest a impermanent enactment void that the Raiders request to fill.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore astatine vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore connected Twitter.