Getty Las Vegas Raiders QB Derek Carr.
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is pretty much non-existent on social media these days outside of the occasional picture. He was probably planning to keep it that way when he posted a picture of him wearing a camo workout vest with an American flag on it and a caption that read “It’s that time again.” However, the internet had other ideas.
#Raiders QB @derekcarrqb posted this on Instagram less than an hour ago…
While it wasn’t intentional, Carr’s timing of the post did cause a stir. January 20th was President Joe Biden’s inauguration day and due to the recent events at the United States Capitol building in Washington D.C., many were on high alert. Some people thought Carr’s post was bad timing but he was just revealing his workout plans.
Not sure who needs to hear this, but I can confirm that the photo @derekcarrqb tweeted today was simply a heads up to @Raiders fans that today marked the day he was getting back to work in preparation for next season.
And to clarify, the weighted vest he was wearing was standard workout garb and a tip of the cap to the United Stars military, which he holds in high accord.
I can also pass along that any attempt to suggest his tweet was any more than that -implicitly or otherwise – isn’t just wrong, it’s incredibly irresponsible given the times we live in.
Carr has steered away from politics in the past. He hasn’t made his political leanings clear. It would’ve been very odd for him to make such a bold statement now.
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Carr Claps Back
When Carr was younger, he used to get into with members of the media from time to time. As he’s gotten older, he’s learned to tune out the noise. However, the quarterback took aim at NFL reporter Dov Kleiman for posting the picture of him in the camo vest.
Raiders teammate Bryan Edwards even got in on the action.
Kleiman did offer some more context for why he Tweeted out the picture. The two men were able to reconcile.
@NFL_DovKleiman I appreciate you saying that. It’s all love and good here. Like I said I love, pray for, and support every single president we ever have. No bad intentions here ever. All good 👍🏼
Carr isn’t one to stir the pot. He’s considered one of the nice guys in the NFL. It appears as if all of this can be chalked up to one big misunderstanding.
The Work Begins
Carr is now heading into his eighth season with the Raiders but has yet to play a playoff game. He led the team to the playoffs in 2016, but couldn’t play due to an injury. It looked like he was going to break that drought in 2020. Las Vegas started off the season 6-3 and Carr looked like one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
While he still played at a high level, the defense was just too bad for the team to overcome. They went 2-5 down the stretch and missed the playoffs again. The Raiders’ offense is already very good so the team needs to focus on fixing the defense in free agency and the draft.
That said, the offense can be better. They led the NFL in field goals kicked in the red zone and Carr led the league in fumbles with 11. Also, the team’s wide receivers weren’t overly impressive in 2020. Rookies Henry Ruggs and Bryan Edwards were disappointing after getting a lot of hype in the offseason. If the Raiders can improve their red zone offense, get the young wide receivers more involved and Carr can fix his fumble problem, the team might have a top-five offense. It’s a very important offseason for Las Vegas. They are really close to building a playoff team but need to put in a lot of work.
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