Quarterback Derek Carr
Derek Carr gave it his all Sunday night, but came up just short. The Oakland Raiders loss to the Dallas Cowboys dropped the team's record to 6-8, but the team will get back to work Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. Carr was back at the team's facility Thursday to continue his preparation for the Christmas showdown and speak with the media.
Here are the quick hits from his media session:
Carr talked about the difference in coverage when wide receiver Amari Cooper is on the field.
"When people cover Coop, they bracket him, they try and match him, they try and in-and-out him, they try a whole bunch of different things. When that doesn't happen, the attention goes to [Michael] Crabtree, the attention goes to Jared [Cook] depending on the defensive personnel that they have. They're able to roll coverages and make it hard for us. It's one of those things that is next man up. We have to play ball. That's why sometimes if we're not as efficient or things like that, we're trying to do the same kinds of things and make plays, it just hasn't worked out that way."
No. 4 broke down what goes into the decision to run the ball himself.
"There's a fine line of, do you stay in there for the third option, the fourth option or do you take off? It's a fine line. I definitely feel comfortable doing it. I think we had like three, if I'm not mistaken, three or four first downs running. So, it's something I feel comfortable with. I definitely, it's something I'm not going to do all the time. But, to be able to have that and to make it another mental checkpoint for me verses certain coverages and looks to know that hey, I can go do that, it's something that I can definitely grow in."
Carr expressed what it meant to win the Ed Block Courage Award.
"Just the fact that your teammates vote for it, that really touched my heart. Just being candid. It really showed me that obviously I know there's things I can do better, but it showed me that my teammates still see me for who I am. They still see me grinding through adverse times and those kinds of things. I gave you guys free permission to go ahead and kick me right in the funny business if I changed as a person after that. Because we signed a contract and all those things, it didn't change me. If anything, it made me learn things throughout the course of time and want to be better. It definitely didn't change how I work. It definitely didn't change the effort I give."
He talked about what it'll be like to play the rest of the season without left tackle Donald Penn.
"You guys know I love Donald, obviously. He doesn't' get me hit very often. For that, we're really close. I think I'm closer to Donald than David [Carr] is with his offensive line. I think having a guy like Donald who really cares about you. If you get even a finger touched on you, he feels sick. I'm just describing his personality. When you lose a guy like that, it hurts. Again, we've talked about this with other positions. You lose a starter or you lose a coach to the business or something like that, it always hurts. It's next man up and you have to keep going, but losing Donald, nobody felt good about it. I can tell you that."
Carr touched on center Rodney Hudson's ability to play through kidney stones for his team.
"It definitely didn't affect him on the field. It affected him the night before and the morning of and the pregame and all of that, but thank the Lord that whatever reason he was able to play. I don't know of very many people that could have done that. I don't know if anyone knows anyone who's had them. I sure know people and I've seen how they've reacted and how it makes you feel. For him to be able to do that, he's one of the toughest people I've ever been around."
