We are learning quickly what Raiders new head coach Klint Kubiak's pet peeves are. After two games the big one is penalties.
Kubiak was not happy about the team racking up eight penalties for 75 yards in the preseason opener. And Thursday night they followed that up by being flagged for nine penalties for 63 yards. And the usually very reserved Kubiak was fuming about it the next day.
"I don't know if I've seen that many special teams penalties in a game, and you look at the guys that are committing these penalties, and these are some younger guys, and it's not acceptable, so we have to get it fixed," said Kubiak. "Defensively we taunt, we get a stop on third down. We taunt a guy and let them stay on the field. Unacceptable. One was a face mask defensively. That's two weeks in a row that the coaching staff, we've got substitution penalties. Unacceptable.”
One might suggest that it's preseason so this is where you work out such kinks. But he can't take it for granted that these issues won't bleed into the regular season. He's clearly letting it be known that these kinds of mistakes factor heavily in his evaluations of some of the young players hoping to crack the roster. That discipline is of utmost importance.
But Kubiak isn't just pointing the finger at the players. He let his coaches know they are also responsible for properly preparing the players.
We put it on ourselves as coaches, number one, with how we educate them, what we're practicing, what we're drilling," he added. "It's on us as coaches to get it fixed."
The Raiders have one more preseason game next Thursday against the 49ers to try and show some improvement in this area. Kubiak has made it clear discipline in that area is of utmost importance to him when making his roster decisions.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders HC Klint Kubiak calls out players for penalties 'unacceptable'
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