The NFL has made it very clear that the bar for successful challenges of pass interference calls and non-calls is very high and that’s led some coaches to stop tossing the red flag in hopes of getting things to go their way.
Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is not one of those coaches. Gruden made his fourth pass interference challenge of the season on Sunday — he thought wide receiver Zay Jones was impeded by Lions linebacker Jahlani Tavai — and he lost for the fourth time.
The Raiders employ former NFL referee Gerry Austin to help determine when to challenge and Gruden said on Monday that he’s going to continue listening to a guy “that wore the white hat in the Super Bowl three times” despite the continued failures.
“We’re challenging things that we think are plays that are going to be overturned and we’re going to trust the process,” Gruden said, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “So far, I’ve been given the Heisman. I’ve been stiff-armed. I’m 0-for-27, I think. But when I listen to people tell me they’re going to overturn a call because it’s the wrong call, I believe in the process. And I still believe in it.”
Gruden is 0-for-6 overall on challenges and said Monday that he hates “the whole instant replay formula,” but apparently not enough to continue trying to use it to his advantage.