Amari Cooper said Thursday that Raiders owner Mark Davis traded him to the Cowboys, not then-General Manager Reggie McKenzie or coach Jon Gruden.
Reporters asked Gruden about Cooper’s assertion that Gruden didn’t know about the trade, and McKenzie didn’t want to make it.
“I’ve heard some things in the media that are absolutely hilarious, that aren’t even close,” Gruden said, via Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Gruden then trolled Stephen A. Smith, Gruden’s former colleague at ESPN. When previewing the Chargers-Chiefs game on Thursday morning, Smith mentioned he had his eye on Spencer Ware, Hunter Henry and Derrick Johnson.
Ware already was ruled out with an injury; Henry tore his ACL in the offseason and hasn’t played all year; and Johnson has remained a free agent since the Raiders cut him in October.
“I’m not commenting on any of that stuff,” Gruden continued in response to Cooper. “We’ve got to get ready for Dan Ross and Boobie Clark. We’ve got to watch out for Isaac Curtis down the middle. We’ve got to get Tim Brown and all our receivers ready to play.”
Ross, Clark, Curtis and Brown all played for the Raiders or the Bengals back in the day.