Raiders head coach Jon Gruden not feeling added pressure ahead of Week 1

Expectations are higher for the Las Vegas Raiders this season as they prepare to start their second campaign in Sin City. That, of course, means there's more pressure on head coach Jon Gruden, who is about to start Year 4 of his second tour with the Silver and Black. 

But Gruden and his famously furrowed brow insisted in an interview this week that he isn't feeling any heightened levels of stress as the Raiders prepare to kick off their season next Monday against the Baltimore Ravens.

"I don’t really feel pressure," Gruden told Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday. "(Owner) Mark Davis is going to let me know if it’s good enough or not. And I know what’s good and what isn’t. I’m 58-years-old now, and I’m not working any less than I did when I was 38.

"So I’m doing the best I can. I’m proud of the results we have gotten, but also realistic. I know what’s at stake. But I’m not going to worry about it."

Gruden's second stint with the Raiders has certainly been different than the first. While the team was more of a playoff shoo-in the first time around, Gruden's return has been more of a rebuilding process with mixed results. Star pass-rusher Khalil Mack and wide receiver Amari Cooper were infamously shipped off in exchange for draft picks upon Gruden's arrival. Quarterback Derek Carr improved, but holes in the defense overshadowed a lot of the good he did in games. On top of all of that, the team also switched locations in a very dramatic fashion and, more recently, saw its front office get a makeover.

Now that the team has adjusted to its new home and Carr has more weapons to work with, the Raiders are naturally expected to be a much-improved AFC West product after a late-season slump left them with an 8-8 record in 2020.

"It’s going to be a challenge," Gruden acknowledged. "We had to build a team. We had to change cities. There was a coronavirus that came along. The salary cap went down. So sometimes the things you want to do are a little harder than you imagined.

"We changed general managers. Now we have a new president. There’s a lot of things you have to deal with that are out of your control. But we’re getting better. All I can concentrate on is getting better and positioning ourselves to win. I think we’ve got the players to do it. But it’s been a grind."

Gruden isn't getting too far ahead of himself, mind you. While general manager Mike Mayock told reporters last week he expects the Raiders to make the playoffs this year, the head coach is trying to keep his focus more on the present.

"I’m not going to sit here and talk about the playoffs," Gruden said. "I’m going to talk Baltimore. They want to go to the playoffs too... I’m not going to get into that B.S. I’d be very, very upset if we weren’t very confident."