The Las Vegas Raiders defense came under fire following their 38-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Including defensive coordinator Rob Leonard getting called out by fans and media. Yet coach Klint Kubiak chose to stick up to him and hand him unwavering support.
Leonard earned the chance to speak out for the first time since Kubiak's words. All while also addressing the team's defensive deficiencies.
“It means a lot,” Leonard began. “Not too many people in this profession do things like that.”
He continued to be thankful for Kubiak's words.
“It's early in the season, and I can't tell you how much respect I have for Klint Kubiak– as a man first, as a coach second,” Leonard said. “We share a lot of same values of transparency, honesty, straight to the point. It was very humbling.”
However, Leonard became transparent about what the Raiders must do defensively moving forward.
“I know what we want to do, how we want to do it; there's evidence of us doing it; we have to do it more consistently,” Leonard said. “There's a weight that you feel, that you carry, especially when the offense is scoring, that we need to do our part. We have to show improvement.”
Even with All-Pro edge rusher Maxx Crosby, the defense has surrendered lots of points this season. Vegas has surrendered a league-worst 29.8 points per game. And this defense has allowed 30 points or more in their last six games.
Crosby leads with four sacks and six tackles for a loss. But the Raiders have delivered only 19 sacks in nine games with just seven takeaways. And now Kubiak hands the quarterback reins to Fernando Mendoza starting on Sunday.