When did these conversations take place? It clearly was discussed prior to this announcement and yet Gruden & Allen seemed to know nothing of the sort.

Oh no?

Dont get me wrong, I think Raheem was on the path to becoming a HC in 2-3 years but there are certain things that must be learned through experience at different levels and over time. To make the jump directly from being a secondary coach to a head coach just doesnt give me a lot of confidence. Youre talking about going from focusing on 7-9 players to handling 53 plus personnel decisions, the media, EVERYTHING. We saw one of the most successful position coaches ever– Rod Marinelli fall flat on his face when he tried to make the jump and he was MUCH more experienced and proven than Morris.

”Well, there’s a lot to be encouraged by. Earnest Graham had close to 100 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving in his second career start. Jeff Garcia, I don’t know if he was 20-for-20 at halftime or close to it. It’s hard to imagine him playing much better. He did some great things.

(On if there is frustration involved with losing players to injury every week):
”It’s frustrating. It’s not baseball. It’s not Major League Baseball. You can’t make a trade and just put a guy in your lineup and say, ‘Hey, go play right field and hit fourth.’ No disrespect to baseball, but you’ve got to know the formations, you’ve got to know the snap count, you’ve got to know the audible system, the two-minute package, all the things that you learn in training camp and OTAs and things of that nature. But when you lose three running backs and three receivers and a tight end and a left tackle, a corner, a defensive end and Sabby Piscitelli’s also been out for some time, they do add up. We will be tested, certainly, this coming week with the Jaguars. They’re an outstanding football team and you’ll see so tonight.”

We are right in the thick of this thing. We have to roll up our fists and fight right now, like a lot of the other people sitting at home today. It is not easy, life is not easy. We have to overcome some dramatic loses to our football team, but we are confident we can do that. We will lean on our best players, and hopefully see the emergence of guys like Earnest Graham and Donald Penn, [as they] prove they can play in the NFL, and now they have to continue to prove it.”