Monday was a brutal night for Oakland Raiders fans as Act 2 of the Jon Gruden era got off to a rocky start with a second-half flop and a messy loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
In an interesting juxtaposition, Gruden’s ESPN replacement — Jason Witten — was also making his regular-season debut on “Monday Night Football” at the Oakland Coliseum. And like his predecessor, Witten had a less-than-sterling start.
Witten, a former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys (Why does television have such a crush on former Cowboys?), too often came across as stiff and wooden — and even kind of quiet.