Did Bruce Irvin Khalil Mack miss Raiders

A year ago, the ' defense ranked 22nd, but they were young, fast and athletic, and the thinking was that the Lynn Bowden Jr. Jersey group would make a huge leap in 2017. It didn't happen, and through 10 games -- including last Sunday's 33-8 blowout lo s to the -- the Raiders had the league's worst defense, according to . And that reality goes a long way in explaining this one: On Tuesday, the Raiders . It was a perfectly understandable move, though apparently not one fully embraced by Norton's players Liam Eichenberg Jersey . Minutes after Norton's firing became public, Raiders linebacker tweeted " ." A day later, Irvin and defensive end mi sed practice for reasons that weren't injury related. The team said the players were given a "rest day," but as 's Paul Gutierrez notes, Irvin hadn't previously mi sed a practice all season and it was Mack's first absence since Week 1. So were the mi sed practices a means of protesting Norton's dismi sal? "I like to keep my thoughts private," Mack said, via Gutierrez. Irvin added: "Nah, I ain't talking Christian Wilkins Jersey , bruh. You know I ain't talking about that today." When asked if his tweet was related to Norton's firing Irvin shrugged before moving on. Norton's relationship with his players aside, it's hard to overlook just Austin Reiter Jersey how bad the Raiders defense has played this season. The unit has yet to intercept, which goes a long way in explaining their last-ranked pa s defense (they're 21st against the run, so there's that). "We're going to focus on the proce s," Del Rio said of the defense moving forward. "I think one thing that's maybe gotten away is the focus on winning. We need to win, we need to win, we need to win. Yeah, everybody needs to win. Everybody wants to win. Tua Tagovailoa Jersey For me, it's about the proce s ... recover, prepare, compete." If it's any consolation, the defense isn't the reason the Raiders are 4-6, in third place in the division and . Dumb mistakes and poor execution on both sides of the ball .