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Six games into Jon Gruden's second stint with the Oakland Raiders the franchise looks a bit different while sporting only one win thus far. Things haven't gone as planned for Gruden and he's received quite a bit of backlash for decisions he's made in his return to Oakland.
One thing in particular that Gruden has been criticized for in the early going this season is how he's dealing with young players on the Raiders roster. Gruden recently responded to the criticism that he might not be fond of younger players, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic.
Gruden: "I have been accused all my life of hating rookies and playing veterans. And I am playing 10 rookies right now. What do you say to that, America?"
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) October 16, 2018
There's no doubt Gruden likes things run a certain way. The one-time Super Bowl champion came to Oakland and cleaned house immediately cutting players left and right. Along with parting ways with veterans and young players, Gruden and company traded arguably the team's best players in Khalil Mack after being unable to see eye-to-eye on a long-term deal.
Needless to say, Gruden's decisions have been questionable and controversial. The fact the team is nowhere near back on the track makes these moves that much more concerning with the team having the coach under contract for 10 years at $10 million per season.
Although many expected Gruden to go through some growing pains in his second stint as a head coach with the Raiders, the fact he hasn't made much progress to this point with questions surrounding Derek Carr and Amari Cooper's future is troubling. It remains to be seen if bringing back Gruden was the right move or if it was another classic mistake made by the storied franchise.
