Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

Raiders HC Jon Gruden: I don't 'understand' taunting, it's 'ridiculous'

By Erin Walsh | Last updated 10/5/21

Taunting penalties continue to wreak havoc on the NFL, and arguably the most controversial taunting call occurred during Monday night's Las Vegas Raiders-Los Angeles Chargers game.

Raiders tight end Darren Waller was hit with a 15-yard taunting penalty because he spiked the ball after a catch along the Chargers' sideline. He didn't appear to be taunting the Chargers at all and was just celebrating his big catch.

Darren Waller was called for taunting for SPIKING the ball.

IT WASN'T EVEN TOWARDS AN OPPONENT pic.twitter.com/dNDwoHoLLR
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 5, 2021

After the game, Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said that he hates taunting, adding that he didn't understand why Waller was flagged.

"I don't understand the taunting. I hate taunting. I think it's ridiculous," Gruden said, according to Pro Football Talk. "I think what happens after an interception or a touchdown, we allow these celebrations, I consider that taunting. I don't understand what happened over there on the Chargers' sideline. But the official made the call, we have to deal with it. We couldn't get any momentum going. That didn't help us."

Players, coaches and fans have shared their frustrations about the increase in taunting penalties since the season began, but the NFL doesn't appear to be interested in telling officials to dial things back.

The Raiders went on to lose Monday's game 28-14 and Waller's penalty was only one of a number of things to go wrong for Gruden's squad against the Chargers.

To be fair, Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa also criticized the officiating after Monday's game, but he had his own reasons for doing so.

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