Dennis Allen fires back at agent, no reason not to believe Allen
Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen looks on against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Usually it’s the agent that comes up with an apologetic statement to downplay stupid comments made by his client, but Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor was the one who had to do some damage-control yesterday. Pryor’s agent made an incredibly foolish statement stating that Raiders head coach Dennis Allen wants Terrelle Pryor to fail, and Pryor did a great job of addressing those comments and putting his agent back in line. Allen himself also took to the podium to address that accusation, and he had some strong words to say.
Via the San Francisco Chronicle’s Vic Tafur, Allen said, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever frickin’ heard.”
I couldn’t agree more. Why on earth would Allen want Pryor to fail, especially since Pryor could help Allen save his job? If Pryor is able to perform like a franchise quarterback and earn that designation from the Raiders front office, then Dennis Allen’s stock just went up. He’s on the hot seat, and that seat would immediately be cooled if Pryor succeeds and gives this team more hope for the future. The Raiders really need somebody to emerge as the franchise QB, and Pryor being that guy only helps Allen, who shouldn’t even be on the hot seat to begin with (the Raiders were predicted by most experts to win just two games, so a 4-11 record and generally competitive squad should be pluses on Allen’s record).
The notion that Allen wants Pryor to fail is utterly ridiculous, and he wouldn’t have been so cautious with Pryor’s concussion earlier this year if this were the case. I mean, does Allen really want Pryor to fail at being a quarterback in this league? Does he want to walk around with the stigma that he couldn’t help Pryor develop? Does he want to lose more games and hurt his record as a result of having a bad quarterback? Absolutely not.
Heck, Allen even said it, the Raiders won three of four games with Pryor. He gives them their best chance to win, and both he and Pryor know it. You could argue that Pryor is the reason why the Raiders won those games, and he has dynamic physical tools that help make up for his inexperience and decision-making errors. Maybe the Raiders shouldn’t have started Matt McGloin for him when Pryor was healthy, but McGloin looked impressive and deserved a second look from the organization (I’m sure the Raiders front office had more to do with that decision than Dennis Allen) in those games. The Raiders know that their main goal is to find a franchise QB, so they didn’t want to rule McGloin out either.
Here’s a great quote from Allen, “No coach in their right mind – this isn’t the ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’; this isn’t made-for-TV drama. This is football, and we make our football decisions based solely on that, nothing other than that.”
I’m sure Pryor believes him, and I completely believe Allen when he says that there is absolutely no truth to the agent’s inflammatory, irresponsible, and inane statement that Allen wants Pryor to fail. There is no logic that supports that agent, and I’ve seen better trolling done by local columnists; it’s good to see Allen take the agent’s comments head-on.