Raiders News: Jon Gruden Says Las Vegas Move Has Complicated Virtual Offseason

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Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is working hard to make sure his team is prepared for its first season in the desert amid the coronavirus pandemic, but it's been a journey with new challenges.

Speaking with Jerry McDonald of the San Jose Mercury News on Thursday, Gruden explained how moving cities has complicated the virtual offseason: 

"We're the only team that’s changing locations. We've got to find new homes, new doctors, new places to shop. We've got to get acclimated to a completely different environment. Players are starting to find homes, and the more players that move to Las Vegas are slowly but surely getting to know each other and creatively keeping their distance and trying to get in some workouts."

Gruden said he's been communicating with his players and coaching staff via Zoom meetings and has spent the bulk of his time working with his quarterback group of Derek Carr, Nathan Peterman and Marcus Mariota.

While he isn't able to put his players through reps on the field, Gruden is still able to work on the mental aspects of the game with his squad:

"It's important that we try to keep things as normal as possible when it comes to football. We still have to teach a lot of new players our system and we still have to try and bring a lot of new people together and form some camaraderie some how, some way. It’s hard to do. It’s challenging. We've got to try to be as creative as possible and that's what we're doing. We probably spend more time preparing for the meetings than we’ve ever done before. We've learned a lot about technology, we feel like we’re on the cutting edge of utilizing it."

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At this time, the coach isn't worrying about what football will look like this summer and for the 2020 campaign. He said he is taking it one day at a time.

"I don't have any idea," Gruden said when asked about when the team will be able to meet on the field. "I just stay day to day. I get ready for the next meeting, the next practice. I'm very hopeful and confident that we're going to beat this thing as a nation. I'm just trying to keep our players safe and healthy and optimistic like I am. But we've got to prepare to play."

Nothing about this offseason has been easy. Gruden is trying his best to make the transition from Oakland to Vegas as smooth as possible for his team.