Quarterback Derek Carr
After the Oakland Raiders wrapped up their second day of Minicamp, quarterback Derek Carr held a press conference at the team's Alameda, Calif., facility.
Here is what we learned from his time speaking with the media.
Carr's chemistry with wide receiver Amari Cooper is continuing to develop.
"I'm able to throw the ball a lot earlier, you know? I'm able to trust where he's going to be at. I'm used to seeing his routes run a certain way. Those are things that take time, like we talked about last year. I forgot who asked, but it's always going to take time getting that chemistry down. But, it's nice to see all of the hard work in practice that we've had together paying off out here in practice and hopefully come August, September and through the season."
The Offseason Workout Program provides an invaluable chance to get practice reps.
"It's cool to be out here because this kind of time is invaluable. This is extra OTA. How many OTAs? 10 OTAs, three practices out here and then the walk-throughs. That is so many reps that I didn't get to have. I think I only did the mini-camp last year, so it was nice to have hundreds more reps of certain plays. That kind of stuff, there's no price on that. You have to get out there and do it. To see where we're at and to be able to come out here and do it, it helps us go another step closer to what we want."
Entering his third NFL season, Carr is continuing to see the game slow down.
"The game, it does slow down, it really does every year. 'C-Wood' [Charles Woodson] always told me, my brother [David Carr] always told me, [Justin] Tuck always told me, they said, 'Man, you think Year 2 slows down, you wait until your third year.' They would always tell me that and now I'm seeing why. I'm seeing it's just football now and I don't really realize the speed of it until I watch a kickoff or something. I'm just so used to doing our thing. Or if I sit back and watch another rep happen, I'm really watching the speed of things. I'm like, this game is really fast. How did he just get from there to there, you know? That throw should be completed every time, but there's freak athletes out there. But, now, the game has slowed down so much and it just makes it become just football."
He shared his thoughts on wide receiver Michael Crabtree comparing him to Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre.
"Man, I'm very honored, very thankful. Brett is somebody that I looked up to as a kid the way he played the game, so I wore number four ever since I could remember. I always wanted to wear four somehow, someway. For him to say that, I thought it was really cool."
The 2016 Oakland Raiders are a tightknit group.
"You hear us all the time break it down, 'family.' Family on three. We don't take that lightly. It doesn't just stay in this building either, it leaves this place. I think I was texting Khalil Mack past my bed time last night about stuff. It's just stuff like that, man, where you can really see the growth of this team from when I first got here."
