All you needed to hear was Rob Leonard’s press conference on Thursday to understand that Sunday against the New England Patriots was not a banner day for the Las Vegas Raiders defense.
“We got to get better,” the Raiders defensive coordinator said plainly.
After stringing together an impressive few games together to start the year, the Raiders defense had their most difficult outing of the season by far against the Patriots.
The 536 yards given up by the Raiders were far and away the most they had given up so far this season. It provided a moment of reflection for Leonard and the defensive coaching staff, who now had a look at the weaknesses that the Patriots had exploited.
“I don’t know if there’s benefits to getting your butt whooped, but you got to know yourself and your strengths and weaknesses on defense,” said Leonard.
In particular, this week of practice was a moment for two rookies in Treydan Stukes and Hezekiah Masses to get themselves back into form.
On the first Patriots touchdown, a miscommunication between Stukes and his teammates allowed DeMario Douglas to sit in the end zone, leaving himself wide open for Drake Maye’s pass. Later in the contest, Masses was beaten on a shifty move from Kyle Williams that gave the receiver more than enough separation to go untouched for six.
It only went to show that ‘welcome to the NFL’ moments can happen to any rookie at any time, despite how impressive they have looked prior to that point.
As a result, this week of practice has proven crucial for both players to get themselves back to the level of confidence they had both shown since training camp.
“In the NFL, there’s always people working on their weaknesses at all times,” said Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak on Monday.
“All I’m asking them to do is their jobs and it’s our jobs as coaches to get them prepared and put them in position to play successfully.”
Working in both players’ favors was how well they had performed prior to that point.
Both are responsible for all four of the Raiders’ interceptions this season, with Masses having three on his young career. With the emphasis on playmaking that Leonard has preached early on and continues to do, both have already emerged as good fits in his defense. Now, the next step is to find a balance that turns those flashes into consistent playmaking.
“They responded. Flush the last game…it’s the same process, win or lose. That’s what we’re trying to do,” said Leonard on how both rookies have looked in practice this week.
With another difficult test in Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen looming on Sunday, the Raiders will need Stukes and Masses back on their A-games if they want to put a halt to this recent skid.