Six weeks into the 2018 NFL season, the Oakland Raiders are just 1-5. That's tied with the Cardinals, 49ers, Colts, and Giants for the worst record in the NFL. Worse yet, the Raiders have been outscored by 66 points across their six games. That's the single worst point differential in the league. It's safe to say that the Raiders are simply a bad football team, and they're not going anywhere fast. 

Just don't say that they're tanking. Jon Gruden won't like that. 

"I'll say this, we aren't tanking anything," Gruden said Tuesday, per the Associated Press. "I hear the hatred out there, some of the rumors that we are tanking it to get a first-round pick or a higher pick. We are not getting up at 4 o'clock in the morning to tank it. Ain't nobody tanking it. I don't know who wrote that or who said that or who thinks that, but that isn't the case here. We are going to continue to work hard, continue to build our team and that was part of the message."

I'm not sure anybody thinks the Raiders are tanking. People just think they're bad. And largely because of several roster decisions that Gruden and company made this offseason. Like trading Khalil Mack (which has led to Gruden repeatedly musing that his team needs to figure out a way to manufacture a pass rush). Like benching or cutting recent early-round picks in favor of struggling veterans. (Karl Joseph, Jihad Ward, Gareon Conley, Obi Melifonwu, etc.) Like benching free-agent signing Rashaan Melvin, who appears to be the team's best cornerback. Like trading down and drafting Kolton Miller, who has been one of the NFL's worst tackles during his rookie season. 

The Raiders are on their bye this week after getting manhandled by the Seahawks in London last Sunday, and Gruden says they are actively looking to improve their situation. 

"We're still looking at the roster. We're looking around the league to find means to get better," Gruden said. "[General manager] Reggie [McKenzie] and I had a long meeting yesterday. I know that's a shock to some people. They don't think we have any meetings. I'm telling you, we're working hard to solidify this roster every day and improve ourselves and get the right people on the field. Those are decisions that we're looking at. We're going to continue to try to develop our young players. We're going to stay on the gas pedal and go as hard as we can."

Rumors recently popped up that the team is looking to trade Amari Cooper, whom Gruden compared favorably to Tim Brown just this offseason. The Ringer's Mike Lombardi reported that people in Oakland's building question whether Cooper loves football, and it's led to their exploring trades for the wideout. Gruden did not exactly do a great job of shooting down the notion that the team might be interesting in moving Cooper when asked about it on Sunday. 

"I don't know. I haven't heard that," he said. "I'm not -- I'm not. I'm just sorry to have to deal with a lot of these reports. Like I said, he's going to be a big part of our pass offense and we'll see what happens here."

We'll see what happens from here on out but Gruden is getting paid $100 million to lead the team's football decision-making, and it's not going well. Some Raiders fans are already fed up, as a website called isgrudengoneyet.com has popped up with a countdown showing exactly how much time is left on Gruden's 10-year contract (to the second), how much money he has made on his $100 million deal so far, and how much he is still going to earn. 

The Raiders, right now, are a mess. It doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon.