Las Vegas Raiders Derek Carr on State of the Silver & Black
HENERSON, Nev.-The Las Vegas Raiders have started the 2022 NFL season a disappointing 0-3, and they don't have time to feel sorry for themselves.
Derek Carr spoke just outside the locker room about the state of the Silver and Black and looked ahead to the Denver Broncos this weekend.
You can watch the entire interview below, and read the transcript:
Quarterback Derek Carr
Q: How cool is it to be able to throw the ball deep to Mack Hollins?
Carr: “It's awesome. I'm glad you asked about Mack. Davante [Adams] still has three touchdowns in three games, it’s not like he’s not there. But we're seeing a lot of different coverages. People are trying to take him away in different ways and we talked about this before the season, I said, ‘We're going to see a trend’. Like the first game, [Davante] Tae has all of these catches, all these yards. The next week, of course someone is going to trying and do something. And then if the other guys can show, like Mack did, he went for 160 (yards) or whatever it was. He went career high, career high, two games in a row. That’s such a testament to his ability, that’s such a testament to his work ethic. It's also a testament to Davante and Darren [Waller] pulling coverage and taking people, so that Mack can have that opportunity. And Davante knew when he was coming here, he knew that he was going to have other guys that could also get the football here. So far, the guys when they need to, the ball's gotten into their hands and they're taking advantage of those opportunities. Which, for a guy like Mack, like you guys know he works so hard, and it makes me so happy for him."
Q: Dan Orlovsky said that based on the film, he thought maybe you were trying not to throw to Davante Adams?
Carr: “I don't think Dan is a malicious type. He never has been. From the times I ever talked to him, he was a super great guy. I got no problem with Dan, first and foremost. And anything I say, I have to say that first because no matter what I say after that, that’s all you'll see on the headline. But at the end of the day, I'm going listen to Josh [McDaniels] in my progressions, in what he's telling me in the game, and we're trying to set things up to get the ball a certain place and all that kind of stuff. It takes repetition, it takes time. We are only three games into us playing together again and it hasn't been all bad. And so, for me to not want to throw it to him, I wouldn't necessarily agree with that, but I get what Dan is trying to say. Everyone wants to see Davante get all the yards and all the catches, but if you flip his and Mack's numbers, no one says anything. We talked about this before the season that there is going to be some times where that happens and we're going to be talking about, ‘Well, where’s this guy’s targets and where's Darren's [Waller] targets.’ We knew this was coming. I tried to warn everybody, but I knew that this would come, especially when Tae showed up and everyone was excited to watch us play together. But again, I got nothing wrong with Dan. I've always respected Dan and there's nothing there, for me. But when it comes to the reads and all that kind of stuff, I'm just going to do to the best of my ability what Josh wants me to do."
Q: Do you think it just a matter of winning a couple games and all that will go away?
Carr: “I think if we win two or three of these games, we're talking about three touchdowns instead of all the other stuff. But that's football, man, and I take responsibility for that. We haven't won this year. That solves everything. When we went on our run last year, a lot of things got overlooked because we were winning. But at the end of the day, it's all about winning and we're going to do whatever we can to make sure that we stay focused on that. If we start getting into all the other stuff, we're playing the game for the wrong reasons. So, we got to win to solve some of those problems.”
Q: How important is it for the captains and leaders on this team to make sure things don’t snowball after the 0-3 start?
Carr: “We've had some really good meetings. We're not pulling no fire alarms, nothing like that. There is a lot of good football players on this team and we're sitting here and we're like, 'Man, we're 0-3 right now.' We've all been through adversity. We've all been through things in our life, or in football, that we can draw back to, to remind everybody. And if I'm honest, I thought today was a great practice. I thought everyone responded so well. Everyone responded on Monday so well to the to the critiques from our coaches. There was a lot of, 'Yes, sir. I got you. I'll do it right.' And they did it today, the energy and the excitement of practice. That's our job as leaders, to make sure that stays. I thought we answered that well. I think that's not a recipe for exactly winning, but it sure is better than going the other way."
Q: Are Darren Waller’s catches in the red zone going to come with progression as well?
Carr: "It's going to take all of us. It takes all 11, every single time. And the faster that we can all 11 do the right thing, those percentages will go up. It’s on the film. We believe in what coach is exactly saying, we see it the way he's saying it. But yes, I'm confident that it'll get better. Now, where does that confidence come from? It comes from the work that we're putting in and how hard we worked at it today. Guys are running until they can't run anymore just to get it right. I'm confident that'll get better, but we have to do it on gameday. We have the right guys to do it, we got the right coaches, we believe in the scheme. It just takes time. No one wants to do that right now, but us playing together, we've gotten better each week, which doesn't count for a win, but we're getting better. And hopefully we can continue that stride to where it does turn into wins, and we keep getting better throughout the season as it goes on."
Q: There has been some chatter about you guys having some productive team meetings. Is that something that would happen every week? Or was it specific to this situation because you felt there was some things that needed to be addressed?
Carr: “It's a different culture, right. Josh [McDaniels] and the coaches, Dave [Ziegler], and there's different players and it's not the same team, so we couldn't just go about the same way that we had been for the last couple of years in how we would fight through adversity. So, as captains, we just took a second and said, 'We all think we're doing the right things.' Again, there's no players only. It wasn't like that kind of thing. It was like, 'We're all pulling. We're all doing the right thing. Let's just make sure we're all pulling the same way.' We're all trying to go the right way, but this is how we as a building go now. And so, I thought it was very productive, super positive, the response from other teammates. You could see the look in their face, you could see the way that they responded at practice today. I think it was very positive. I think it was a very good thing, but we're all just trying to be problem solvers. You never want to be someone that comes in the building and creates problems. You want to be someone that comes in and solves problems. We watch the tape, the coaches, the players, and we all see what we need to do and all that kind of stuff. Now, it's about staying positive and doing them."
Q: Following the loss, Davante Adams had mentioned that it's okay to be frustrated, but to use that frustration to move you guys forward. Do you follow that same sentiment?
Carr: “Yeah, absolutely. It's okay to be frustrated. I've been here nine years. I've been frustrated my fair share of times. One, it will crumble you, or two, it'll motivate you. When your back is against the wall, or when it's the hardest, or when everything's against you, whatever that may be, it's either going to crumble you and you'll just drift off into the distance, or you'll keep fighting and try and be a part of the solution. And so, it's okay to be frustrated. As long as you're still good teammate, as long as you're still putting the work in, as long as you're still doing those things; it's okay to be mad. Everyone's frustrated. I was pissed after we loss. No one wants to lose, especially the way that we've lost – 13 points or whatever it is in three games. That's crazy. But we got to stay positive because as soon as you start getting down in the dumps, that's not going to pull you out of anything. And that goes in life. I teach that to my kids, if they're getting frustrated, I'm like, 'It's okay to be frustrated, but you still got to do the right thing no matter how you feel." And so, I think that's been the message – it's okay to be frustrated, but even when it's hard, you still got to do the right thing."
Q: What have you seen on tape form Denver’s pass rush?
Carr: “Oh, man. Randy [Gregory], they added Randy. Great player. I've thought since he came into the league, he's been a phenomenal talent, phenomenal player. [Bradley] Chubb is unbelievable. Before Randy was there, it was Von [Miller] and Chubb. Before them, it was Von and DeMarcus [Ware] and Shaq [Barrett] and Shane Ray. I've seen my fair share of pass rushers in this division. These guys are awesome. And it's not just those guys, the guys inside are great players. So, we have our work cut out for us at all three levels of the defense. They're very physical, they're a top defense. They're unbelievable, talented players. A very confident group. Kareem [Jackson] I think is one of the best safeties in the NFL, one of the most physical guys, brings it every single day. They got some good corners. The other safety can fly. Linebackers are physical. We got our work cut out for us at all three levels. If we don't bring it, they're going to make sure that they have a good day. We're focused on having a good week of practice, so that we can go out there and compete against those guys. I think the world of those guys. I think they are some of the best players in our whole league on that defense."
Q: Davante Adams says he feels like he’s being double teamed 95 percent of the time, but that it doesn’t bother him because he's used to that. Did you see that back in college? How quickly was it that you guys established your thing when you saw defenses really scheme to stop Davante?
Carr: “It was definitely early on. As soon as they saw him run a couple routes on film they were like, 'Oh gosh, we can't just leave one walk-on corner over here guarding this guy.’ And sure enough, he's proven that in the NFL. And so, even then we had two other guys besides him go for 1,000 yards. When that happens, everyone else has to do their job too. That's what we saw these last couple weeks, Mack [Hollins] having two big days and him proving to everyone, 'Okay, you want to double him? Well, I'm also 6’5 and run a 4.3 and I can play football, too.' I think that's been good for our team. I think that’s been good for everyone's confidence to know that no matter what we have to draw on that we have it. We saw it early on, but if that's what people want to do, other people are going to make plays. And Tae is still going to get the ball. There are still ways to get him the football, there are still ways to play football. In certain aspects, take three DBs or underneath help and put it on his side of the field, it's cover zero everywhere else. And so, it's my job to make the decisions that Josh wants me to make at those points, too."
The Las Vegas Raiders return to action next Sunday, as they play host at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to their AFC rivals the Denver Broncos. That game kicks off at 4:25 PM PDT and can be seen on CBS.
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