Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak, left, and general manager John Spytek watch the team warm up b ...
Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak, left, and general manager John Spytek watch the team warm up before an NFL football game at Levi Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Heidi Fang/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @HeidiFang
Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Leonard runs onto the field ahead of a preseason game against ...
Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Leonard runs onto the field ahead of a preseason game against ...
Raiders owner Mark Davis, right, talks with minority owner Tom Brady before the start of a pres ...
Raiders owner Mark Davis, right, talks with minority owner Tom Brady before the start of a pres ...
Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer, middle, fumbles the ball between San Francisco 49ers ...
‘Totally unacceptable’: Raiders’ dynamic duo each commits costly turnover in loss
Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak hasn’t addressed the NFL’s trade deadline with his team, but conversations about prospective transactions remain ongoing at the executive level.
“We’re talking all the time,” he said Monday at Intermountain Health Performance Center. “That hasn’t changed. As the deadline approaches, things get more urgent and we’ll continue to talk.”
Business as usual.
With the trade deadline set for 1 p.m. Tuesday and Las Vegas sporting a 4-5 record, Kubiak didn’t offer any insight to what it might or might not do. Raiders with possible appeal to teams around the NFL include quarterback Kirk Cousins and defensive end Maxx Crosby, who pledged allegiance Sunday to Las Vegas.
Kubiak credited the veteran duo for how it has handled trade speculation: “That’s the business that we’re in. That’s the business of football, and those guys are veterans. They’ve been around that, so you just keep working. There’s a lot of things that are out of your control.”
Here are other takeaways from Kubiak’s news conference:
No talk about rebuilding: Though the Raiders had the NFL’s worst record last year and Kubiak is a first-year coach, he isn’t dignifying this season as part of a rebuild. In spite of five losses in their last six games, they’re tied for ninth place in the AFC, a game (and tiebreaker) behind the New England Patriots.
They host the Seattle Seahawks this week.
“We’re talking about being in every game and winning every game. That’s how we treat it,” Kubiak said. “We’re not looking at the future as coaches or players. You develop the future on the way, but every game we’re talking about winning that game. We are not satisfied with a rebuilding process, so that’s the mentality I want our players and coaches to have.”
Hindsight always 20/20: In the fourth quarter of the 38-17 loss Sunday to the San Francisco 49ers, tight end Brock Bowers had a catch-and-run that set the Raiders up with first-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Kirk Cousins threw an interception in the end zone while targeting wide receiver Tre Tucker.
The interception might not have happened had Kubiak challenged the catch for Bowers, who might’ve broken the plane of the goal line with the football.
But Kubiak didn’t issue a challenge.
“Upstairs, we didn’t feel like we had the confident look,” he explained.
”In real time, that was the information we got. We stayed on the ball and we got stuffed, and then we get offensive pass interference. Then we throw a pick. So, we’ve got to find a way to get that ball in (the end zone) regardless. We did not.”
More snaps for Jermod McCoy: The rookie cornerback, a fourth-round draft pick, played 26 defensive snaps against San Francisco, a week after logging 34 snaps against the New York Jets. Darien Porter started at cornerback opposite top corner Eric Stokes, but McCoy continues to rotate for him.
McCoy had played total of 30 defensive snaps the first seven weeks as the Raiders ease him back from the torn right ACL that cost him the 2025 college season.
“Just a player that’s ascending. That’s making us play multiple DBs because he’s covering at a high level. He’s improving,” Kubiak said, describing McCoy. “Again, is a guy that we all didn’t know if he’s going to play football this year, and he’s not missing practice. He’s playing in games. He’s staying healthy. He’s progressing. Getting better with reps.”
Missed assignment: Kubiak was asked about 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy’s touchdown pass to running back Christian McCaffrey, who popped uncovered in the second quarter for a uncontested 12-yard score. During the play, defensive tackles Tonka Hemingway and Adam Butler dropped into a zone as linebacker Quay Walker ran past McCaffrey.
Kubiak said “we did not peel on the halfback,” but said that wasn’t the responsibility of Hemingway or Butler.
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.