‘Upset’ owner Mark Davis plans to appeal NFL sanctions

Raiders’ owner Mark Davis said Friday the organization intends to appeal the penalty levied against the team for repeated violations of coronavirus protocols.

The NFL fined the organization $500,000, coach Jon Gruden $150,000 and stripped the Raiders of a sixth-round draft pick.

“Yeah we’ll appeal it absolutely,” Davis told the Review-Journal. “The thing that I’m more upset about than anything is the draft pick. That’s a competitive type of thing and I don’t think that’s fair at all to take that away from the organization, but we’ll see. Again there’s protocols and there’s rules and there’s the ability to fine us and hopefully we’ll be able to work something out.”

Total fines on the season for the Raiders’ violations of the enhanced safety protocols due to the pandemic have now exceeded $1 million. The organization is the first in the league to lose a draft pick.

Yet Gruden once again reiterated his belief the team has done an “excellent job” combating the pandemic, a process he has referred to as crushing the virus.

“I’m very proud of our organization on how we’ve handled this entire protocol, this entire process,” he said Friday. “Like I said last week, I believe we’re on the cutting edge of being the best at servicing players. I’ll leave it at that.”

The latest fines are a response to the curious case of right tackle Trent Brown, who tested positive for the virus last month, but did not consistently wear his contact tracer — resulting in the rest of the starting offensive line missing multiple practices for precautionary purposes before a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The franchise already had been fined $250,000 and Gruden $100,000 because he did not properly wear a mask during a Week 2 game against the New Orleans Saints. Tight end Darren Waller was also fined $30,000 for violating protocols in September during a fundraiser hosted by his foundation. Nine other Raiders players, including quarterback Derek Carr, were also fined $15,000.

Brown was placed on the team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday because he was experiencing lingering complications from the virus. He was not present while the team stretched on Friday.

“I’m really proud of the guys I work with here,” Gruden said. “It’s a very difficult process, but I stand by what we’re doing here. I believe we’re doing a heck of a job.”

Davis agreed with the assertion the Raiders have received a bad rap for the perception they are lax on following the protocols inside the facility.

“The main message is that we’re doing everything that we can as an organization and we take it seriously,” he said. “The people inside the building understand how hard we’re working towards trying to keep everything going and trying to follow all the protocols and everything else and you know those guys are doing a phenomenal job of it,”

Davis concedes there have been mistakes. He would just like more understanding of what the Raiders have tried to do right through such unprecedented circumstances.

“There’s been a few slip-ups here and there and in a six-month period there’s going to be,” Davis said. “It’s not anything they’re trying to do intentionally. It’s making the Raiders look bad in the sense that anything that is reported is all bad things and it’s not given any credence to all the good stuff that’s going on over there and how hard those guys are working.”

The Raiders play will play the Chargers in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Review-Journal reporter Vinny Bonsignore contributed to this story.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter. Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.