It has been a frustrating season for the Las Vegas Raiders and Geno Smith, and the quarterback apologized Wednesday for flipping off fans as he left the field during Sunday’s loss to the Cleveland Browns.
“I made a poor judgement out of frustration,” he said. “That’s not an excuse. I’ve got to be better than that, and I’ve got to hold myself to a higher standard. And at that moment I didn’t. So I’m sincerely apologetic and very sorry for doing that.”
Las Vegas likely had high expectations entering the season with the combination of head coach Pete Carroll, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, Smith, running back Ashton Jeanty and tight end Brock Bowers, among others.
But it is now arguably the most disappointing team in the league in 2025.
Sunday’s defeat dropped its overall record to 2-9 and extended its ongoing losing streak to five. The offense managed a mere 10 points in the 24-10 loss, and Smith took 10 sacks in an ugly performance by the entire unit.
Smith was a back-to-back Pro Bowler in 2022 and 2023 before throwing for 4,320 yards last season. All of those performances came with the Seattle Seahawks, and he has been unable to build on his production in his first year with the Raiders.
In fact, the 35-year-old leads the league with 13 interceptions and is surely frustrated with his own individual performance in addition to his team’s record.
The fans were frustrated on Sunday as well, and some of them let the Raiders know about it by booing. Smith let his emotions get the best of him in response to the fans as he was leaving the field, but he expressed his regret a handful of days removed from the situation.
Next up for Las Vegas is a road trip against the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers as they play out the string on what has turned into a lost season.