Jon Gruden tricked his Raiders players into thinking he had coronavirus

Jon Gruden is known for his unconventional approach to football, but apparently that also extends to how he deals with Covid-19. According to a report from Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, Gruden executed a plan to convince his players that he had coronavirus.

Players expected to log onto a Zoom call with Gruden to go over the plans for the season, but were instead greeted by assistant Rich Bisaccia, who told them Gruden had contracted the virus was was recovering in hospital. Supposedly this was a plan to teach players are readiness, as if this was an attempt to make them mentally ready should anyone inside the organization fall ill and be forced to leave.

Let’s be real: This is an exceptionally stupid plan, one that could only be rivaled by the decision to trade Khalil Mack for pennies on the dollar. Not like that would ever happen. On some level you can probably say to yourself “readiness is a good message,” but we don’t know how many players had spent time around Gruden prior to this trick. What if they were concerned about the virus? Or had family with preexisting conditions that would put them in jeopardy if they were exposed? Surely there has to be better than a weird “gotcha.”

It should be noted that Gruden’s scheme occurred before Doug Peterson of the Eagles fell ill, so it’s not quite as cruel as it might sound — but it’s still exceptionally dumb. It’s as if someone asked Michael Scott from The Office for some ideas on how to motivate a football team, and this is what he came up with.

Coaches: I get that you’re used to turning adversity into motivation, but maybe you should try an approach that doesn’t invoke a terrifying global pandemic to teach a message that, at best, is a bit of a stretch. This is quintessentially Jon Gruden, and extremely Raiders though — so I can’t say I’m surprised.