Antonio Pierce made more headlines than he bargained for after last week’s loss to the Panthers. His “business decisions” comments lingered at the top the NFL news cycle for most of the week and that was never Pierce’s intention.
The team responded positively to Pierce’s prodding this week, but after Sunday’s win over the Browns, the Raiders’ head coach felt the need to apologize for the stir his comments caused.
“It was a trying week, to be honest,” Pierce said. “There was a lot of hoopla and stuff. It probably started with me and my comments, and I apologize for that. I don’t want to be a distraction that way, but I think at the end of the day we just went to work, each and every day.”
Fans and media speculated all week about who Pierce was talking about with his “business decisions” comments, and after Sunday’s game it would seem that Jack Jones was one of the players he was referring to.
Jones started the game on the bench and, ironically, he wasn’t a part of the team’s one bad series on defense. The Browns opened the game with a 16-play touchdown drive and Jones wasn’t on the field for a single play.
By all accounts, including his own, Jones responded well to Pierce’s comments.
“That’s ball. If I’m not up, I’m not up. And when I’m up, I gotta play,” Jones told members of the media after Sunday’s game.
Most importantly, the Raiders walked away from week 4 with a win. It was a pivotal win for the team despite not having Maxx Crosby (ankle) and Davante Adams (hamstring) in the lineup.
As an organization, the Raiders can now catch their breath after a “trying week” and prepare for a huge divisional game against the Broncos in week 5.
No distractions on the menu for this week… as of now.
