Raiders’ immediate challenge: How do they salvage the season?

The Raiders’ regularly scheduled day off on Tuesday provided a chance for players to digest the events of the previous 24 hours in private, away from all the cameras and microphones.

That was a good thing for a team that is reeling in the aftermath of the sudden resignation five games into the season of head coach Jon Gruden, who has been replaced on an interim basis by special teams and assistant head coach Rich Bisaccia.

Gruden resigned on Monday after a trove of emails emerged in which he used racially incentive, misogynistic and homophobic language to disparage individuals and groups of people over a seven-year period.

Keeping further distractions and upheaval to a minimum is the key for the 3-2 Raiders over the remaining 12 games, a path that begins Sunday in Denver against the 3-2 Broncos in an AFC West showdown.

These are difficult times for a young team, and it will be on established leaders to provide a steadying influence. That means Derek Carr, Maxx Crosby, Yannick Ngakoue, Alec Ingold and others will need to shoulder even more of that responsibility.

The sudden manner in which the events unfolded has left the organization and team staggering. And Tuesday was a day to process the harmful words of their former head coach and quickly move forward in a way that salvages the rest of the season.

Multiple players either declined to publicly comment for this story or didn’t respond to requests for comment. Privately, though, several players indicated they are determined to soldier on while using the controversy as a rallying cry for the rest of the season.

Or, as a person with direct knowledge of the situation, said: “The reality is, what other choice do they have? They know they have to move on, quickly, because this is still a good football team and there is still a lot left to play for.”

The point is well taken, and in many ways it perfectly describes how quickly things have changed for the Raiders. Just over a week ago they were 3-0, Derek Carr was an MVP candidate and the playoffs seemed possible.

In the span of six days, they fell to their division rival Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football, learned that their head coach had used racially insenstive words to describe DeMaurice Smith, the head of the NFL players union, then fell flat in a disorganized loss to the Chicago Bears in a performance that left many wondering if the Gruden controversy had affected their focus.

All of which culminated with Gruden announcing his resignation on Monday.

The challenge now is moving on without Gruden, the undisputed football leader of the organization on and off the field.

“He was literally the face of the Raiders,” said the same person, who has direct insight into the team.

Gruden’s heavy hand was involved in all aspects of the operation, including assembling the roster or, in the case of Carr, sticking with him in spite of so many others predicting he would trade him at the first possible opportunity.

Gruden also handpicked the coaching staff and advocated for general manager Mike Mayock, who came aboard in 2019 after Gruden’s first season back at the helm.

Gruden’s was a commanding voice, and his departure creates at the least a temporary leadership void that the Raiders need to fill.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.