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sports Diaranson 13 Januari 2021

Raiders hire Gus Bradley as new defensive coordinator

( AP ) - The Las Vegas erywhere else. But, you need
Raiders hired Gus Brad- quality players at each level to
ley as their new defensive be successful in the NFL and
coordinator Tuesday with then the ability to really com-
the task of turning around municate that information
one of the league’s worst to them so it truly looks like
units. football.”
The unit he takes over with
Coach Jon Gruden decided the Raiders lacks that kind of
to bring on the experienced star power. Second-year de-
Bradley to fill the role Paul fensive end Maxx Crosby has
Guenther had for the first been the most effective pass
two-plus seasons on his staff rusher with 17 sacks but isn’t
before being fired in Decem- a game-changing player like
ber. Bosa. Clelin Ferrell, the 2019
fourth overall pick, showed
“This is an exciting defense to improvement in his second
play and I would say that the year but is not an elite pass
players will be very excited rusher.
to be a part of it because they
know that they’re going to The secondary is young with
have the ability to play fast,” safety Johnathan Abram and
Bradley said. “I think our job cornerbacks Trayvon Mullen
as coaches is really to evalu- and Damon Arnette all being
ate the players and put them picked in the past two drafts.
in position to where they can
make plays.” The linebacker group was
fortified this past offseason
Bradley got his start in the with the additions of free
NFL on Gruden’s staffs in agents Nick Kwiatkoski and
Tampa Bay from 2006-08 Cory Littleton. But Littleton
before heading to Seattle, a defensive coordinator role lowed the second-most yards during Bradley’s four sea- struggled to adjust to the new
where he served as defensive the past four seasons with the per play. sons running the defense but defense and will need to im-
coordinator for four seasons. Los Angeles Chargers. struggled to generate take- prove next season.
He helped build a dominant That led to the decision to fire aways and pressure the quar-
defense for the Seahawks that He takes over a Raiders de- Guenther after Week 14. De- terback despite having a pair The Raiders have missed the
went on to win the Super fense in need of major im- fensive line coach Rod Mari- of top edge rushers in Joey playoffs all three seasons un-
Bowl the year after he left for provement. Since Gruden nelli handled the job the last Bosa and Melvin Ingram. der Gruden but have shown
a head coaching job in Jack- returned in 2018 with Guen- three games and is expected modest improvement, going
sonville. ther as his defensive coordi- to remain on Bradley’s staff. “I know really where it all from four wins his first year
Bradley struggled with the nator, the Raiders allowed starts is up front,” he said. to seven in 2019 and eight
Jaguars, going 14-48 before the most points in the NFL, The Chargers allowed the "I think that’s first and fore- this past season thanks to an
getting fired late in his fourth had the fewest sacks, the sec- eighth-fewest points and most — to get things right improving offense.
season. He then returned to ond-fewest takeaways and al- 11th-fewest yards per play up front and then fill it in ev-

Bills sign RB Freeman to practice squad, place Moss on IR

(AP) — The Buffalo Bills season, during which he also don, Taiwan Jones and rookie 12 carries for 63 yards and
signed running back spent time on the reserve- Antonio Williams, a member two touchdowns and a 20- The Bills filled Moss' roster
Devonta Freeman to their COVID-19 list. He finished of the practice squad. Wil- yard catch in Buffalo’s sea- spot by promoting offensive
practice squad Tuesday to with 54 carries for 172 yards liams showed promise in his son-ending 56-26 win over lineman Jordan Devey off
add veteran depth after and scored a rushing touch- career debut, finishing with Miami. their practice squad.
placing rookie Zack Moss down.
on injured reserve.
He spent his first six NFL
Freeman is a seventh-year years in Atlanta, where Free-
player who was released by man topped 1,000 yards
the New York Giants last rushing twice and combined
week. He joins Buffalo (14- to score 27 touchdowns (22
3) after Moss suffered a sea- rushing, five receiving) over
son-ending ankle injury in a the 2015 and ’16 seasons.
27-24 wild-card playoff vic-
tory over Indianapolis last After starting the season
Saturday. as Buffalo’s backup, Moss
closed the year splitting play-
Freeman is eligible to be- ing time with Devin Single-
gin practicing this week, tary. Selected in the third
though it's unclear if he'll be round out of Utah, Moss
up to speed in time for Buf- finished second on the team
falo’s divisional-round game with 481 yards rushing, while
against the Baltimore Ravens scoring five touchdowns (in-
(12-5) on Saturday. cluding one receiving), three
more than Singletary.
Freeman was limited to five
games with the Giants due to The Bills have several options
an ankle injury that sidelined to replace Moss in the lineup,
him for the final half of the with third-stringer T.J. Yel-