Raiders OC Chip Kelly Elaborates on Vital Decisions

For a partial transcript of Kelly's comments, read below.

Q: You've only had one game with that five man group that you guys broke camp with. Are you curious to see what that looks like and give it some time for that? 

Coach Kelly: "Yeah, that's just what this league is all about. You better have some depth. We're fortunate we have an extra guard in Alex [Cappa], and Alex has played a lot of really good football in this league, so we feel like we have three guys that can play guard. You're going to get tested, everybody. I don't think anybody's had the same lineup in every single game so far, in the three games in this season in the NFL.

So, that's just part of it. So, you hope you can keep your players, and we have a pretty healthy team to be honest with you. Lonnie [Johnson Jr.] is about the only guy we lost the preseason camp. Besides that, it's just been a one-off in a game here or there, but this game through the 17-game season is going to test you from an attrition standpoint." 

Q: So it is just a continuity thing that has had the offensive line kind of struggled?

Coach Kelly: "Yeah, and I think it's the defenses right now. If you look at statistically, Ashton's [Jeanty] tied for 10th in the league for carries with two other guys. So, of the top 12 backs in the National Football League right now, through three games, there's only four guys that average over four yards a carry, so Jonathan Taylor, Kyren Williams, Bijan Robinson, and [James] Cook from Buffalo. Everybody else, Saquon Barkley averages 3.3 yards of carry. [Christian] McCaffrey averages three yards a carry. 

“So, Ashton's right in the bunch with those guys right now. I think across the league, through the first three games, the defenses are ahead of the offenses right now in the NFL and at a big rate, like not until 2007 or something, when you go back to the amount of total offense for offenses through the first three games, is as low as it's been in about 15 or 20 years. And that's this league. Sometimes the defenses are ahead, and then the offenses catch up, and then it goes back and forth, and that's just the nature of this game. 

“But when you look across the league, and some really good backs, and it's surprising me today, and Saquon's got like 60 carries, but he has 3.3 yards a carry, and that's a good offensive line, that's a good back, it's a Super Bowl champion team, hell of a coaching staff. So, I think it's throughout the league that the defense is doing a good job. Now, that doesn't mean that's just what we say. We've got to do a better job. We're doing a really good job in the passing game right now, but we got to do a better job in the running game."