The Las Vegas Raiders made the right decision when they fired head coach Josh McDaniels last month and have got their "swagger" back under interim coach Antonio Pierce.

That is the view of three-time Super Bowl-winning safety Duron Harmon, who hopes Pierce gets a shot at leading the team on a full-time basis next season.

The Raiders parted company with coach McDaniels and general manager David Ziegler in early November, having made a 3-5 start to McDaniels' second season with the franchise.

Pierce has overseen something of an upturn since taking the reins, with the Raiders overcoming the New York Giants – with whom Pierce won Super Bowl XLII during his playing career – and the New York Jets before losing difficult games against the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Harmon, who was with the Raiders last year, believes the team are already seeing their decision pay off, telling Stats Perform: "I think [the owner] Mark Davis did the best thing. 

"I have a lot of respect for Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler. They allowed me to go out there and play and I enjoyed my time there. But you could just tell the team wasn't responding to the coach. 

"So they did the right thing by letting him go and hiring somebody on an interim basis, like Antonio Pierce, another man who's a great leader, a leader of men who could just kind of get the juices going back throughout the locker room.

"I think they've done that. They played the Dolphins tough. They beat the Jets, they beat the Giants, I believe. 

"Then they ran into the Chiefs [last week], which is a tough test for everybody. Amik [Robertson] and Devante [Adams] came out and said that basically, they beat themselves. When you watch the tape, you could probably agree with them. 

"The idea that they have this type of confidence now, it shows that they have a head coach that is giving them that swagger that they need."

The 5-7 Raiders are outside the playoff picture in the AFC with five games to play, but Harmon does not think the prospect of a postseason run is completely unrealistic. 

"Hopefully, they can maybe get on a little run and maybe sneak into playoffs," he added.

"I have a lot of great relationships over there, and I still talk to a lot of guys over there and they can't talk highly enough about the energy shift that has been since Antonio has taken over. 

"So, I wish those guys the best of luck. I think if all goes well, hopefully, they give AP a good hard look to make him not only the interim but the head coach for the future."

Jimmy Garoppolo and the Las Vegas Raiders made their tie-up official on Friday as the quarterback was reunited with Josh McDaniels.

Garoppolo's move as a free agent was initially reported on Monday, with ESPN's Adam Schefter suggesting the quarterback had agreed to a three-year, $67.5million deal, including $34m guaranteed.

The 31-year-old Garoppolo was expected to appear at a press conference on Thursday, but that was postponed without explanation. Now the deal is complete, however, with the Raiders confirming it in a press release. Terms were not disclosed.

Garoppolo will replace Derek Carr, who has departed for the New Orleans Saints.

Raiders head coach McDaniels knows all about Garoppolo's game, having been his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the New England Patriots.

Garoppolo left his role as Tom Brady's Patriots understudy to spend five and a half seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, featuring in the team that went to Super Bowl LIV and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.

He featured for much of last season with the Niners, despite losing his place as starter initially to Trey Lance, although his campaign ended early because of a foot injury.

Jimmy Garoppolo will join the Las Vegas Raiders as a free agent and reunite with Josh McDaniels.

Garoppolo's move was reported on Monday after the legal tampering period began, with ESPN's Adam Schefter suggesting the quarterback has agreed to a three-year, $67.5million deal, including $34m guaranteed.

He is set to replace Derek Carr, who had already left the Raiders to find a new home with the New Orleans Saints.

Garoppolo leaves the San Francisco 49ers after five and a half seasons, in which time he was part of the team that went to Super Bowl LIV and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.

He was hampered by injuries in San Francisco, however, and lost his place as the 49ers' starter ahead of the 2022 campaign.

Trey Lance was named QB1, although Garoppolo returned to the team on a one-year deal to serve as backup.

Lance soon went down injured, but so too did Garoppolo, giving Brock Purdy the opportunity to establish himself at QB.

With Lance and Purdy set to compete for the starting role in 2023, there was never any possibility of Garoppolo again returning to the 49ers.

Instead, he will team up again with McDaniels, who was his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the New England Patriots ahead of joining the Niners.

Garoppolo only made two starts for the Patriots behind Tom Brady, but he is now in line to be the main man in Vegas, where McDaniels is the head coach.

Derek Carr will not start the Las Vegas Raiders' final two regular-season games, marking the possible beginning of the end of the veteran quarterback's nine-year tenure with the franchise.

Coach Josh McDaniels made the announcement on Wednesday, with Jarrett Stidham to make his first NFL start in place of Carr when the 6-9 Raiders host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

McDaniels cited a desire to give younger players a longer look, with Las Vegas essentially eliminated from playoff contention.

"It's more about the opportunity," McDaniels said of the decision. "We're all accountable to where we're at, and I think this is more about an opportunity to see a guy that we haven't seen play in a situation like this against a couple of good teams, really good teams."

Stidham, a fourth-round pick for the New England Patriots in 2019, has seen spot duty in 11 previous NFL appearances. The 26-year-old has completed 32 of 61 passes (52.5 per cent) with two touchdowns and four interceptions.

Carr has started all but two of the Raiders' 144 regular-season games since winning the starting quarterback job as a rookie in 2014.

Both he and the offense have struggled lately, however.

The three-time Pro Bowler was intercepted three times as the Raiders were held to 201 total yards in last week's 13-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Carr has been picked off nine times in his last six starts and has completed 55 per cent or less of his pass attempts in four straight games for the first time in his career.

Carr compiled a 68.7 per cent completion rate over the course of the 2018 to 2021 seasons, second only to Drew Brees among quarterbacks with at least 1,000 pass attempts during that time frame.

"It's never on one person," McDaniels said following the Pittsburgh loss. "I know that statistic gets applied to one person, but certainly there's other factors.

"Look, that's not good enough. And for us to be able to win at this time of the year and be productive, offensively you have to throw the ball better than what we've thrown at times here in the last month and a half."

Speculation will now turn to whether Carr has played his final game in a Raiders uniform. His $32.9million base salary becomes fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster three days after the Super Bowl, while the team can save over $29m by releasing him before then.

McDaniels said Carr will be inactive as the third quarterback for Sunday's game, with rookie Chase Garbers to be promoted from the practice squad to serve as Stidham's backup.

"Derek was great," McDaniels said when asked how Carr handled the decision. "He understands the scenario that we're in and the situation and is very supportive of the two young guys. He'll do anything he can to help them."

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams has been charged with misdemeanour assault for pushing over a photographer after his team's 30-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Moments after the defeat, Adams was making his way from the field at Arrowhead Stadium when he shoved Ryan Zebley, a credentialed media member, who suffered whiplash and a headache as well as a potential minor concussion.

Though Adams apologised after the incident, the former Green Bay Packers wideout has now been charged for what was described in court records as an "intentional, overt act" that caused "bodily injury".

The charges were filed on Wednesday at the Municipal Court of Kansas City, and Adams is set to be in court on November 10.

Adams is also reportedly facing discipline from the NFL, though his coach Josh McDaniels defended him on Tuesday, saying: "That was an unfortunate situation. I support Davante wholeheartedly as a human being. I don't think there was any intent behind it, on his part."

The Chiefs defeat dropped the Raiders to 1-4, and their bye week means they are now not in action until October 23 when they will host the Houston Texans, though it remains to be seen whether Adams will be suspended for that game.

Josh McDaniels admitted the Las Vegas Raiders have already "lost the sprint" as he held out hope they could be marathon specialists instead, following another painful defeat.

The Raiders went down 30-29 on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday, missing a late chance to pinch the game.

Davante Adams got on the end of his second deep touchdown of the game after a 48-yard bomb from Derek Carr, but instead of kicking the extra point to tie, the Raiders opted to go for two and were stopped short.

Last season saw the Raiders finish with a 10-7 record under interim coach Rich Bisaccia, but they are 1-4 so far in this campaign, McDaniels' first at the helm.

"This is a marathon. If it was a sprint, we lost the sprint," McDaniels said. "Fortunately for us, it's a marathon. We understand what these games mean and they each matter. They're each significant at the end of your season, we know that. They add up.

"But I think the thing we have to focus on is take the positives and then also try to learn from the things that we're not quite doing well enough.

"That's our job. That's what we're going to continue to do. That's what we've done after we've won, that's what we've done after we lost, and we're going to continue to do that. There's progress we've made and that's a good football team out there."

The Raiders have only lost by single-digit margins so far, therefore McDaniels sees the scope for them turning around those tight games.

Quarterback Carr completed 19 of 30 for 241 yards and two touchdowns, passing 200 career passing touchdowns, a landmark for which he said he was "thankful".

McDaniels said the Raiders "gave ourselves an opportunity, and we just didn't make one or two plays at the end to finish it".

As the Chiefs improved to 4-1 with their win, Raiders coach McDaniels added: "Hopefully we'll learn from this and be better."

There are fears of a serious knee injury for Denver Broncos running back Javonte Williams, who head coach Nathaniel Hackett confirmed will undergo an MRI.

Williams was forced out of Sunday's 32-23 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders with a right knee injury after being floored by defensive end Maxx Crosby in the first play of the third quarter.

The 22-year-old, who entered the game as the Broncos' leading rusher with 176 yards through three games, was unable to put full weight on his injured leg and taken to the locker room on a cart.

Williams was seen on crutches after the game and while Hackett would not elaborate on the extent of the injury amid fears of a lengthy stint on the sidelines, he confirmed he will need scans on Monday.

"We're still evaluating," Hackett said. "We want to be sure we get MRIs and get a feel there."

Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson added: "Obviously seeing Javonte go down, that hurt. Hopefully he'll be OK.''

Williams ran for 28 yards on 10 carries in Sunday's game. He has been the Broncos' second-leading receiver with 16 catches for 76 yards this season.

The Raiders' win marked Josh McDaniels' first as head coach of the franchise, coming against the team he led for almost two years before being sacked in December 2010 after losing 12 of his last 17 games with Denver.

"They gave me a great opportunity at a young age and, if anything, I look at it like it was a blessing because I learned so much from it," McDaniels told reporters.

"That made me better and I've been forever grateful to [owner] Mr [Pat] Bowlen for what he gave me an opportunity to do. Unfortunately, I didn't do well enough with it, but hopefully I've learned from it."

New Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels gushed over the atmosphere during his first game at Allegiant Stadium, where his side defeated the Minnesota Vikings 26-20 on Sunday.

With the established stars all sitting out, Raiders backup quarterbacks Nick Mullens and Jarrett Stidham both performed well, with Mullens going seven-for-nine for 94 yards and a touchdown, while Stidham completed 10-of-15 passes for 68 yards, also adding 16 yards and a rushing touchdown with his legs.

In a game that featured veteran receivers Demarcus Robinson, Keelan Cole and Mack Hollins, it was rookie D.J. Turner who stood out for the Raiders, with 58 yards and a touchdown while catching three of his four targets.

Over 61,000 packed into Allegiant Stadium for their first taste of competitive football this season, and McDaniels said he had never seen anything like it for what is essentially a meaningless game.

"This was a special day," he said. "I've been around a lot of preseason games over 22 years, and I don't remember one feeling like this.

"The reception from our fans – getting to know Raider nation the way that you see them now – it's just different.

"I've competed against them a handful of times in my time in the NFL, but to now be on the same side, you understand why it is what it is.

"I'm lucky and blessed to be the head coach here. That is the best atmosphere in a preseason game that I've ever been a part of, and that's easy to say that, clearly.

"I can't wait to play another time in here, and then get to the regular season and have the opportunity to do it for real in regular games, but what a great, passionate fanbase we have. To have the girls here, and my son on the sideline, it's a special day."

While most established starters typically sit out the NFL's Hall of Fame Game, Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs saw plenty of action last Thursday night.

Jacobs touched the ball on seven of the Raiders' first 12 plays – rushing five times for 30 yards and catching two passes for 14 yards – leading some to believe the team was deliberately giving him a larger workload so there would be more tape on him for a potential trade.

Las Vegas coach Josh McDaniels quashed those rumours on Monday, dismissing the idea of the team looking for a trade.

"We have a lot of confidence in J.J. And, you know, he did well with his opportunities, which we hoped he would," McDaniels said. "But no, we have no desire to do that at all."

Some of the speculation that the Raiders want to trade Jacobs stems from the fact he is entering the final year of his rookie contract after the team decided not to pick up his fifth-year option this past offseason.

He was one of the bigger names on the Raiders not to get a contract extension under the new regime led by McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler after quarterback Derek Carr, edge rusher Maxx Crosby and wide receiver Hunter Renfrow all received big paydays.

Jacobs has led the Raiders in rushing each of his first three seasons in the league with his 3,087 rushing yards ranking fifth in the NFL since his 2019 rookie season.

He is expected to be Las Vegas' starting running back again this season, though the team did draft Zamir White out of Georgia in the fourth round of April’s draft, signed veteran free agent Brandon Bolden and will get Kenyan Drake back from a broken right ankle that cut short his 2021 season.

White led the Raiders with 75 all-purpose yards in Thursday’s 27-11 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, while Drake ran five times for nine yards. 

"As I said after the game, I really do believe that the backs, don't really get to simulate what's going to happen during the course of the regular season," McDaniels said. "And so, giving them an opportunity to actually get tackled, take care of the football and get acclimated to a new system, quite honestly, I think is the goal. Each man's different.

"We'll try to do what's best for the team. We felt like that was a good thing, a good opportunity for all our backs that played."

The Las Vegas Raiders are expected to hire Josh McDaniels as their next head coach.

According to multiple reports on Sunday, McDaniels will take over as the successor to Jon Gruden, who resigned after an investigation into the Washington Football Team revealed numerous offensive emails he sent while working as a television analyst before returning to the coaching ranks. 

McDaniels' previous head coaching stint came with the Denver Broncos but ended 12 games into his second season in 2010.

Since 2012 he has served as the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, a position he also held from 2005 to 2008, and had long been seen as the eventual successor to head coach Bill Belichick.

He was announced as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 2018 but controversially reneged on his agreement with the Colts to stay with New England.

However, he will now head to Las Vegas along with Patriots director of player personnel Dave Ziegler, who is reportedly set to replace Mike Mayock as the Raiders' general manager.

Las Vegas went 10-7 in 2021 under the interim leadership of Rich Bisaccia but suffered defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card round.

The Raiders ranked 18th in offensive points scored this season and will hope McDaniels can deliver a substantial improvement in that regard.

New England finished in the top 10 in offensive points in nine years of McDaniels' 10-season second spell as offensive coordinator.