Dennis Allen looking long term for Raiders

Sitting at 3-10, the Oakland Raiders are not dealing with a positive present. But the future is still on the mind of head coach Dennis Allen and he plans on having a future full of winning games as the Raiders coach.

Allen and general manager Reggie McKenzie understand that it will take time to reconfigure their current roster and to make the necessary moves needed to make sure it will be able to compete in the future.

"We want to win. That's what it's all about," Allen told the Mercury News on Friday. "But I've got a big-picture view of what I want this team to look like. Reggie and I have talked about it. We knew what we were dealing with when we came here."

What they're dealing with is a slew of injuries that have crippled a team already lacking depth. The team suffered its sixth straight defeat last week but team owner Mark Davis is leaving football matters to McKenzie and Allen. It looks like he will give them the necessary time to try to get the Raiders back to respectability.

"It's going to take time. It doesn't happen with one decision," Allen said. "It's an accumulation of decisions over time that gets everything how you want it."

What the Raiders want is not what they're getting right now. Will it change in the future? Only time will tell, and it looks like they'll get that time.