Raiders hoping for defensive turnaround

ALAMEDA - Despite being on pace to set an NFL record for yards allowed, Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. has no plans to make any major changes.

Oakland ranks last in total defense and is 24th in points allowed heading into Sunday’s game at Jacksonville. The problems have been widespread, from missed tackles to blown coverages to communication issues that have derailed the team’s otherwise promising start.

The Raiders made two personnel changes prior to Week 3, inserting first-round draft pick Karl Joseph and fellow rookie Cory James into the starting lineup. Beyond that, things have mostly stayed the same and the disappointing results have continued to pile up.

While fans have been clamoring for a change of some kind, Norton insists he has no plans to do anything differently.

“It depends on what you believe in,” Norton said Thursday. “Obviously you’d like the stats to be better. We’re in a pretty good place record-wise but your stats need to be better. We need to continue understanding what we are, who we are and get better at what we’re doing.”

Through six games the Raiders haven’t made very many plays at all defensively.

Oakland has held only one team - Tennessee in Week 3 - to fewer than 400 yards and is on pace to give up 7,117 yards for the entire season. That would break the NFL record of 7,042 yards allowed by the New Orleans Saints in 2012.

Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, who spent three seasons as defensive coordinator in Denver, took over play-calling from Norton at one point during a Week 2 loss to Atlanta but has otherwise allowed his coordinator to run the defense.

Like Norton, Del Rio acknowledged the need for improvement but said that making sweeping changes isn’t part of the solution for now.

“It’s clear that we’re not operating the way that we need to operate to play really good defense,” Del Rio said.

“It starts with the communication aspect, from the sideline to the huddle, from the huddle amongst each other out there. That’s one of the areas. When that cleans up, it’s going to alleviate a lot of issues that we’re having.”