When the Las Vegas Raiders hired Josh McDaniels in January 2022, he said he had learned from his first stint as an NFL head coach.

But McDaniels’ record actually was worse the second time around than it was with the Denver Broncos in 2009 and 2010, and late Tuesday night, the Raiders announced that owner Mark Davis fired McDaniels and General Manager Dave Ziegler.

McDaniels, the former offensive coordinator with the Patriots, became the first non-interim coach in the Super Bowl era to be fired by two franchises before the end of his second season.

“After much thought about what the Raiders need to move forward, I have decided to part ways with Josh and Dave,” Davis said in a statement. “I want to thank them both for their hard work and wish them and their families nothing but the best.”

The Raiders announced linebackers coach Antonio Pierce will take over as the interim coach. His first game will be Sunday at home against the Giants. He played for New York from 2005-09.

Las Vegas also announced assistant general manager Champ Kelly will be the interim GM.

Offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi was also fired by the Raiders.

Davis had hoped to bring New England’s success westward when he hired McDaniels, the longtime Patriots offensive coordinator. Ziegler worked in New England’s front office, and between the former teammates at John Carroll University, they transformed the Raiders into Patriots West by signing several players with ties to that organization. Lombardi served as a scouting assistant and an assistant coach in two stints with New England.

But despite taking over a team that made the playoffs in 2021 before losing to the Cincinnati Bengals in the wild-card round, the success Davis so badly wanted never made its way to Las Vegas. The Raiders under McDaniels went 6-11 in 2022 and are 3-5 this season for a .360 winning percentage. His record at Denver was 11-17 (.393 percentage).

PATRIOTS: Nine years ago, Bill Belichick wasn’t in the mood to discuss the Patriots tough start to the 2014 season or talk about Tom Brady’s early struggles. That led to the infamous ‘On to Cincinnati’ press conference.

On Wednesday, the Patriots’ coach said he was “getting ready for Washington” on four separate occasions discussing two different topics – the NFL trade deadline and the firing of McDaniels and Dave Ziegler.

On Tuesday, the Patriots didn’t make a trade during the NFL’s trade deadline. Belichick wasn’t willing to discuss the team’s strategy or reasons why they didn’t make any deals.

When asked if the trade deadline was a busy day, Belichick responded, “We’re getting ready for Washington.”

Were the Patriots close to any deals?

“Spent the time getting ready for Washington,” Belichick responded.

After ‘discussing’ the trade deadline, Belichick was also asked about the decision to fire McDaniels and Ziegler – both of whom worked for Belichick and the Patriots.

When asked about the news, Belichick replied, “Yeah, just heard about it this morning. Just trying to get ready for Washington.”

Belichick was asked about the possibility of the Patriots bringing McDaniels and/or Ziegler back to Foxborough.

“Just getting ready for Washington,” he said.

BEARS: Chicago fired running backs coach David Walker, leaving Coach Matt Eberflus down two assistants after defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigned in September and raising more questions about the team’s culture.

Walker was in his second season with the Bears. He was hired after Eberflus replaced Matt Nagy following the 2021 season.

“As the head coach, we are building a program,” Eberflus said. “We have standards to uphold as a staff and organization both on and off the field. And those standards were not met.”

Eberflus offered few details about Walker’s situation, declining to say if his dismissal was for behavioral reasons and if it had anything to do with his coaching ability.

He also would not say if he felt blindsided by Walker’s situation or the one involving Williams, who resigned Sept. 20, saying he needed to “take care of my health and my family.”

General Manager Ryan Poles seemed to shed a little more light on why Walker was dismissed.

“If you don’t meet those expectations of how you move around this building and how you treat people, how you talk to people, how you act, you don’t belong here,” Poles said.

BROWNS: Quarterback Deshaun Watson returned to practice after being sidelined for three starts and missing most of four games with an injured right shoulder.

Coach Kevin Stefanski said Watson – who didn’t practice at all last week because of the injury sustained on Sept. 24 – would be limited in practice as the Browns (4-3) prepare for the Arizona Cardinals (1-7).

Stefanski isn’t ready to make a decision on his starting quarterback for this week.

He said that if Watson, who is dealing with a strained rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder, can’t play, backup P.J. Walker would face the Cardinals on Sunday.

FALCONS: Taylor Heinicke has moved past turnover-plagued Desmond Ridder as the Falcons’ starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Coach Arthur Smith said the decision to start Heinicke was made “with all the variables considering everything.”

Smith would not commit to Heinicke keeping the job past Sunday.

VIKINGS: Quarterback Kirk Cousins had surgery for his torn right Achilles tendon.

The Vikings have not revealed a timetable for his return to full strength, but Cousins will miss the remainder of the season and his rehabilitation will certainly stretch well into next year.

Cousins was placed on injured reserve Tuesday, when the Vikings acquired quarterback Joshua Dobbs in a trade with Arizona.