It has been a huge offseason for Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. He played in his first playoff game last season, got a new contract and the team traded for his close friend Davante Adams. He’s never been more set up for success in his career.
Though the Raiders have a strong team right now, many are predicting them to finish last in the AFC West. Recently, Carr said that “no one thinks anything of us” when talking about his team. The quarterback isn’t too worried about what outside voices think of the Raiders right now.
“Like nobody cares you know like at the end of the day,” Carr said of the response to the recent quote about teams counting the Raiders out. “They could say you got all these … that crap don’t matter, you know, we have to go play the football games, and that’s honestly how I feel. I just got to be more honest. I just got to start speaking my mind, and as I’m getting older, I just say what I want to say, and so my real answer is the expectation all that kind of stuff who says that honestly, it doesn’t matter, it really doesn’t whether they don’t say anything or they say a lot. Nobody cares. Hopefully, they talk about us at the end but right now that crap don’t matter.”
Carr’s comments sparked a back-and-forth with ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez.
“If it doesn’t matter, Derek, why do you talk about it?” Gutierrez asked.
Carr wasn’t very happy with the way Gutierrez asked the question and had some strong words for the reporter.
“Thank you, Paul, it’s so good to see you,” Carr replied. “I say it because I’m a positive person, and I try and encourage my teammates. There’s a way that I say things to encourage my locker room to maybe put a chip on their shoulder, and sometimes I do it too much and so I don’t appreciate your tone either, you can pump that back a little bit.”
BREAKING NEWS @RAIDERS QB @derekcarrqb checks @PGutierrezESPN during Press Conference 🤣🤣🤣
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Carr Has Chip on His Shoulder
Throughout his career, Carr has had plenty of contentious moments with reporters. The Raiders have only had two winning seasons with him at quarterback so he’s had to answer a lot of tough questions. Now that he’s gotten the team to the playoffs, it’s clear that he’s not putting up with reporters being sassy with him.
Carr unsurprisingly has a big chip on his shoulder. The Raiders have been rumored to be moving on from him for years but now he finally has job security. If Las Vegas ends up putting together a big season, it will be a lot more difficult to criticize Carr going forward.
Mick Lombardi Praises Carr
Carr is no longer a young player. He’s 31 and has dealt with more turmoil in his eight seasons than most quarterbacks deal with in a career. He’s embraced a leadership role and new offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi has taken note.
“His willingness to work hard, accept anything and do whatever necessary to help the team win,” Lombardi told the media. “I think that’s been the case for not only him, but most of the guys in the offense. Showing up early, staying late, spending some extra time with some extra people. Whether it’s helping the running backs or the receivers, that’s a quarterback’s role. Not only Derek does that, but Jarrett Stidham, Nick Mullens and even Chase Garbers, they’ve bought into being that role as a quarterback.”
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Raiders’ Derek Carr Rips Reporter: ‘I Don’t Appreciate Your Tone’