Graney: Sorry, fans, tanking doesn’t enter into minds of players

Bet this: That following a 19-14 win by the Raiders over the Jaguars on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, after the home team had snapped its 10-game losing streak, a certain amount of fans was disappointed in the outcome.

Maybe a whole lot of them.

They are the ones hoping for the highest draft pick possible for the Raiders. The ones who are sure a franchise quarterback exists within the top few selections.

The ones who believe a Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward can make all the difference in turning the fortunes of this team around. That either can be the reason all this losing stops.

Do you know who couldn’t care less about any of that?

Players and coaches. Nor should they.

Tanking has never been part of their vocabulary. The Raiders are 3-12 after turning away Jacksonville, and for it, would hold the No. 6 pick in the draft should it commence today. Prior to kickoff Sunday, they owned a top-two pick.

Yeah. Big difference.

They’re now behind the Giants, Browns and Titans — all three of which will likely also be looking to upgrade at quarterback.

“It has been a minute since we (won),” wide receiver Jakobi Meyers said. “Forgot for a second what it feels like. But guys are never going to quit. We hear about (draft picks) and all that, but we’re professionals. You always hear it when you’re having a bad season— you hear it across the league. But we do our best to win every play every day. And wherever the ball falls, it falls.”

‘We want to win’

It fell in their side of the ledger Sunday, the Raiders proving the better of two bad football teams. You know things are a little slow when one of the biggest end-zone celebrations occurred when the cheer team announced winners of Dancer of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Raiderette of the Year. Congrats to all.

It’s too hard a game to give anything but your maximum effort. Too violent an existence to care about anything other than beating the guy opposite of you. There’s too much on the line.

“For us, we work hard every single day,” running back Alexander Mattison said. “The outcome is always going to be that we want to win and make plays on that field and come out victorious.

“We don’t think about the politics of it, even though everybody else out there does. It’s not what we care about. We want to win every game and dominate. Glad we were able to do that today — especially when you haven’t won in so long.”

Fans might not want to hear it. There is a faction that might term Sunday’s victory one of the worst in team history given how much it moved the Raiders down the draft order. And who knows what they might think should the team win one or both of its last two games.

Which is altogether possible.

The Saints are 5-9 and without starting quarterback Derek Carr, and the Chargers, by the time they visit to close out the regular season here, could have a playoff seed wrapped up.

Who knows if quarterback Justin Herbert will even play against the Raiders.

Hard to win

“It is so hard to win in this league,” Mattison said. “When you’re this close so many times … We were hungry for it. We just want to finish the season strong. If we can do that, we’ll feel good about the spot we’re in.

“We try and be where our feet are. We can’t change the past, but we can continue to work every single day like we’ve been doing.”

That’s all they know. That’s all they care about.

Fans can worry about draft picks, and, well, that’s not to say they’re wrong. This franchise needs a future at the game’s most important position. Nothing bad for thinking that way.

But it’s not how players and coaches go about their business. Not how professionals act. Tanking isn’t part of their DNA.

Too hard a game. Too much on the line.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.