Hondo Carpenter | Las Vegas Raiders Insider, Sports Illustrated Fan Nation

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Shop in store or visit Ashley.com today. We're pleased to welcome insider Hondo Carpenter who's fresh off of his own duties in Vegas and that includes hovering the team for Sports Illustrated and Fan Nation. Hondo, when you hear Devante speak those words, he starts out by saying, I don't say a whole lot and then he goes off and really expresses his frustration. What's your reaction? First of all, that was his answer to my question at his locker.

Nice. Absolutely. This isn't why he came here. He could have gone a lot of places. He took less money to come here because this was his childhood team and he thought he would win a Super Bowl. He's absolutely frustrated and they should. For the second straight week, they were out coached and they were outplayed. You've got Josh McDaniels with over six minutes to go in the game, down 16 points and it's guys are walking up to the line of scrimmage.

They're huddling. There's no sense of urgency. And then down eight with just over two minutes, they kick a field goal and now all of a sudden time management matters was absolutely ridiculous. It was a horrible performance by the entire team.

It was an embarrassment. And you know, you've got one of the hardest working players in the entire NFL, the best wide receiver in the league. He's absolutely frustrated and he should be. Why so many of these moments where there are wasted opportunities or big mistakes or miscues or miscommunications when you're talking about a veteran team, Hondo? First of all, we're 20 games in to the Josh McDaniels regime in Las Vegas. The point of the matter is, although some people around the league would argue they're more talented than when he got here, he inherited a playoff team and this was the worst performance of the 20 games.

And so, you know, a lot of it, I'm a firm believer and you know, personally, cause we're friends. I respect Josh. I like Josh, but everything reflects leadership. And when there's no sense of urgency, when time with your time management, and then why would you expect that from your players? It was frustrating. And I'm going to tell you, I felt for Max Crosby. I felt for Devante Adams in that locker room because these are two guys that are just everyday guys throughout all the off season.

They're the hardest workers that I know, and they absolutely deserve better. And the team continues to make blunders, continues to hurt itself, continues to fail to execute. And 20 games in this rest squarely, squarely on McDaniels. And I said to him after the game, I said, this is the quarterback you wanted.

And you have the third highest paid offense in the national football league. Why did you not go for it on fourth down when you didn't have a sense of urgency with the clock? And he gave a typical coach answer, but the point of the matter is, is this far in now, it's germane to ask those questions and to point out those absolute blunders of both McDaniels, his staff and the team. Did that decision shock you as much as it did me? Because you still need a touchdown regardless if you get it there or you get the ball back. Well, yeah. And the other thing is if they don't score a touchdown, they start the drive of the Steelers buried inside the 10 yard line.

It made absolute no sense. And I can tell you, I was getting texts by other coaches, you know, is the kick. What is going on? Is Jimmy injured?

What's going on here? I mean, multiple people couldn't believe it who are texting me and I'm like, no, he's fine. And just absolutely an unbelievably poor decision that was, you know, and again, I like Josh. This is an attack on his personal integrity, but it's absolutely an attack on his coaching. And that's what his job was.

And he failed. So I see on your Twitter that Garoppolo was not available after the game because he's being evaluated for concussion. When did that happen? Well, this is the thing I just talked about a moment ago, just before you guys called, is when I saw him in the locker room, I even talked to him, he seemed fine. And so either it had to happen on the last play or if it happened on the last play, why is he sitting around joking, laughing and talking in the locker room and not in the protocol immediately?

I mean, that's a very fair and germane question. So again, it's just like Devante last week was in the protocol and didn't talk, but he was fine. I hope he's fine.

I don't wish him well. I don't think they're lying. I'm not calling them liars, but it certainly doesn't make sense. And it calls into question, you know, how they handle the concussion protocol. Hondo Carpenter is with us from Las Vegas after the Raiders fall in their home opener to the Steelers. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Sunday Night Football certainly seemed like a haven for a lot of black and gold. Did it sound like there were as many Steelers fans there, Hondo? Oh yeah, the entire second half, you wouldn't have known it was a Raider home game. And the Steeler nation was, I probably shouldn't use that term because that makes Raider fans mad, but the Steeler fandom was absolutely loud and raucous.

And I mean, there's the Raiders in the red zone trying to score and there were terrible towers, towels everywhere. And I mean, that's what happens in Las Vegas, right? This is a tourist town. People want to come to Vegas. And so if you're going to circle one game to go to, you're going to pick Las Vegas. And that's something that the Raiders have to endure. Oakland was not a tourist town. It wasn't a place that people said, gee, I want to go to Oakland.

And that's it. But now the trade-off is the franchise is completely flush with money. There's nothing they can't do. It's doubled in value in two years and they have the money to go get any player they want.

They're just going to struggle. And as long as they keep doing performances like this, Amy, fans are going to sell their ticket. I know a guy who is a doctor, a very wealthy man in this city who has tickets at the Allegiance Stadium. And he's like, listen, if I can sell my tickets for anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000 a game, depending on what team is in town, and I know they're going to play like junk, I'm going to sell my tickets.

I may be rich, but I still make money. And so, you know what, until they put a better product on the field, this is what's going to happen. And it's disappointing, but it's a reality. Hondo, you and I have talked about this, the exit of Derek Carr at the end of last season and how he wasn't Josh McDaniel's pick and he was kind of disjointed in the offensive system. It didn't really work. There was never really a rhythm to it. And the two of them were never really on the same page. Or at the very least, Derek didn't fit what Josh wanted to do. What signs have you seen that Jimmy Garoppolo is a better fit in the Josh McDaniel's offense?

None. And I'm going to go a step farther. You can go back. This is on the record. I've said it and I've written it. Back when they let Derek go, I said, if you get Jimmy Garoppolo, you made a mistake because you just took an off injured player for a guy that's never injured. And I'm going to say this, that they thought they were getting Tom Brady.

In fact, they were certain of it. Some things happened that I'm going to be writing about in a couple weeks that it didn't work out because of family reasons or for issues with Tom Brady. It wasn't the Raiders. So they kind of got stuck with Jimmy. But the point of the matter is, I said at the time, you don't get rid of Derek Carr for Jimmy Garoppolo. Now, I've also said, and I don't mind being accountable to that, is that Jimmy fits their system better. And they've said that.

So I took them at their word. Well, Jimmy Garoppolo, who may fit their system better, certainly is not playing as good as Derek Carr was and is. He's got more interceptions than touchdowns.

This is not good. Jimmy has looked terrible. And what's frustrating to me, Amy, is that in all of the joint practices against the Niners and the Rams, he looked exceptional. This Raider team looked good and they come out week one and they found a way to win in Denver when they weren't playing well, which is what good teams do. Going up and getting blown out at Buffalo, there's no shame in that. But how they lost was, it was just like tonight. They come out strong and then collapsed. Tonight against the worst defense, I mean the worst offense in the National Football League.

And you just made Kenny Pickett look like a star. That's absolutely embarrassing. But it was bad top to bottom. Players to coaches, it was embarrassing. What's going on with Josh Jacobs through the first three games of the season?

I thought tonight was his best performance, although it still wasn't great. They ran for 69 yards. Teams are stacking the box and daring Jimmy Garoppolo to beat him. I mean, think about this, Amy. They've got an all pro wide receiver in Hunter Renfro that Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler paid big money to keep. Now let's remember that because I reminded Josh of it tonight.

I said, this isn't somebody that Mayock signed. You and Ziegler give him a big deal. And then he goes out and through three games, he's got three catches and been non-existent. You've got to. You put so much resources into him. You've got to get him going.

How concerned are you about it? Josh, to his credit, isn't going to throw anyone under the bus. But I know he's frustrated with it. Josh likes the ball out quick, which is smart. But Jimmy's throwing it so quick that Hunter Renfro is not a part of the offense.

That's completely unacceptable. Hondo Carpenter is with us from Las Vegas covering what has been a one and two start now for the Raiders. Their season opening win was a one pointer against the Broncos. But since then, been a couple of tough ones against teams from the AFC East to the AFC North.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. So then what is the answer, Hondo? Where do they go from here?

Well, there's a couple of things. You know, I just said a moment ago, you don't throw in the towel on a season when you're three games in. So I'm not advocating that at all.

It isn't time to do that. But this is where Josh McDaniels, I mean, he has proven to us with his Super Bowl rings that the man knows offense. Bill Belichick completely left him alone and let him do his thing. Well, Josh has to step up his coaching game now. This starts with leadership. And he's going to have to lead. He's going to have to find the magic elixir, the silver bullet. But he's got, here's the amazing part.

He has his veteran leaders making execution blunders, just flat out blunders. And he better quickly find a way to get this team on track because I'm going to tell you something, Amy. I'm with them.

I know them. This is a team that believes in him. But this is a team that if they don't get this fixed quick, I am greatly concerned he's going to lose his locker room. He hasn't lost it yet.

But I'm just saying based on what I know, I think that's a legitimate concern. It is a precarious position for Josh McDaniels and for the Las Vegas Raiders now, especially after how they've lost, not just the losses. So you want to make sure you keep up with Hondo on Twitter at Hondo Carpenter. Sports Illustrated fan nation, Las Vegas Raiders really connected, so always has great intel.

And of course, one of our favorites, a good friend, Hondo. Thank you so much for a couple of minutes after a long day. Thank you, my friend.

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