Getty Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.
There’s been a lot made of how Derek Carr and Jon Gruden don’t get along but that narrative doesn’t seem to hold a lot of weight. The Las Vegas Raiders got off to a good start this season but have now lost back-to-back games. Carr’s numbers have been solid but he’s lost three fumbles in the losses.
Other than those fumbles, Carr has played well this season. While there are those who think Gruden doesn’t want the quarterback, he had some pretty strong praise for him after the loss to the Buffalo Bills.
“I wouldn’t question one thing about Derek Carr,” Gruden said. “He is giving you everything he’s got and he’s performing pretty darn good.”
Carr has yet to throw an interception this season and has the fifth-best quarterback rating in the NFL at 113.6. Considering his top three wide receivers have been banged up this year, those are some really solid numbers.
ALL the latest Las Vegas Raiders news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Raiders newsletter here!
Carr Praises Gruden’s Playcalling
At this point, everybody knows that Gruden’s got one of the most complicated playbooks in the NFL. In his first season back with the Raiders, it didn’t seem to translate well to the modern NFL. However, glimpses of success were shown last season but the team couldn’t sustain success on offense.
With added talent this past offseason, the Raiders offense has started to open up. Carr praised Gruden for how he’s running the offense.
“One thing that Coach has done a great job is … a lot of these teams are spending a lot of time trying to take that stuff away and he is still finding a way to get a shot,” Carr said. “It’s been awesome. The one to Zay is fingertips, it’s that close.”
The offense has been impressive at times this year but they do need to be more consistent from week to week. Darren Waller and Josh Jacobs haven’t been putting up as big of numbers as many thought they would and that needs to change.
Carr Says Gruden ‘Tells Us the Truth’
It’s no secret that Gruden is tough on quarterbacks but Carr has been able to get along just fine. The quarterback appreciates the coach’s honesty.
“[Gruden] tells us the truth but he always tells us to keep our heads up,” Carr said. “He’s a Super Bowl-winning coach and he tells us, ‘Hey look, we’re doing the things right, we just have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.’ We know what we can do. We move the ball, at times we stop them.”
The mistakes have piled up for the Raiders but as they get healthier and more experience, the mistakes should happen less often. The team does have the tools to field one of the best offenses in the NFL. Once they are able to mitigate the boneheaded plays, the offense should thrive. That will be necessary for this team to win because the defense hasn’t shown much promise this season.