Jon Gruden is back coaching the Raiders after nine seasons commentating on the game from the sidelines. Lots has changed since, including the national anthem protests in lieu of police brutality and systemic oppression, the NFL has also made an effort to increase player safety. During Gruden’s time as coach there was a lot more time for players to practice during the offseason.
Now that concussions have become an alarming discussion regarding player safety, there has been an emphasis on less practice time and alteration of the rules of play to decrease head on collisions. Gruden will have to make do with the time available under the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) the NFL adopted. He has been reported with expressing that the new CBA does not give coaches and players adequate time to develop or monitor the progress of players that are on the fringe of making the roster.
ESPN is reported Gruden mentions that former Jets quarterback Christian Hackenberg made some changes to improve his technique and play but he could not fairly evaluate the results of these changes with little to no reps available for the young quarterback.
“[Hackenberg] has been working on changing his stroke, his passing motion, and I think he did that,” Gruden said. “We just didn’t have enough reps to take a good look at him. Since we were further along the road with some of our other guys, we didn’t have the space.”
Gruden believes this will have a negative impact on quarterbacks moving forward. ESPN Field Yates is reporting that Hackenberg is in Foxboro to meet with the Patriots.