Raiders report: Waller calls past month ‘shocking’

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Every Raiders player who stepped to the podium Sunday was adamant the events of the past month were not to blame for Sunday’s 23-16 loss to the Giants.

But tight end Darren Waller conceded there has been a lot to process between the tragic loss of life in the crash that led to wide receiver Henry Ruggs’ dismissal from the team and the resignation of coach Jon Gruden in controversy after the release of offensive emails.

“Personally, it’s definitely blown me back a bit,” Waller said. “Coach Gruden was somebody that took a risk to bring me in to give me a chance to play football again. And then Henry is somebody that everybody liked, not just because he was the fastest person you’ve ever seen run on a field, but he was a good person, a respectful person, somebody you liked being around on a daily basis.”

Waller has battled through personal adversity to become one of the league’s best tight ends. He believes the challenges can make the team stronger with the right mentality.

“It is shocking, and you know it does hurt a little bit, but all we can do is the best we can to move forward and focus on football,” he said. “Nobody asked for this, but at the same time, as far as training in resilience and adversity, I feel like we’re getting the best practice and training you could possibly get in that. So we just have to keep moving forward.”

The Raiders will get a chance to do that on the practice field this week before another test Sunday night at home against rival Kansas City.

Old friend

Giants running back Devontae Booker, who spent the 2020 season with the Raiders, haunted his former teammates Sunday.

He ran for 99 yards and added three catches for 23 yards, though he was over 100 before losing 3 yards on a carry and then heading to the sideline with an injury.

Booker said after the game he felt fine and enjoyed having success against his old teammates.

“It was just going out there and having fun with these guys,” Booker said. “Really, it was like backyard football. Talking smack to them and just running up and down the field. It was great.”

Taking the lead

Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue had two sacks, including a forced fumble that led to a field goal.

It was the third time in the past four games he’s recorded multiple sacks and gave him the team lead in the category ahead of good friend Maxx Crosby. That was of little solace for the standout defensive end.

“At the end of the day, I just wish we would have won,” he said. “I want to go to the playoffs. That’s what I’m in it for.”

Ngakoue, who briefly left the game with an undisclosed injury but said he was fine, deflected credit for his recent run of strong performances to his teammates.

“When you’ve got guys on the opposite side like Maxx and guys on the interior like (Quinton Jefferson), (Solomon Thomas) and (Darius Philon), that helps a lot. Especially on the back end, those guys help a lot and are doing their thing.”

Injury report

The Raiders entered the game with a clean injury report but didn’t leave MetLife Stadium that way.

Interim coach Rich Bisaccia will provide updates Monday but indicated cornerback Keisean Nixon, linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski and defensive tackle Darius Philon sustained ankle injuries.

Bye, bye, bye

The Raiders’ well-documented struggles after a bye week continued Sunday. In the past 19 years, the Raiders are a league-worst 3-16 after a bye.

Carr declined to read much into the struggles when asked if he had an explanation for the trend.

“I don’t know,” he said. “This was our first one with this team.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.