The Las Vegas Raiders apparently had their way with the New England Patriots yesterday. All day long, beat writers from both sides of the aisle pointed out how dominant the Raiders’ offense looked in practice and in one-on-one drills. Regarding all of this, quarterback Derek Carr was asked about the team’s performance.
It was all positivity coming out of Henderson yesterday. Bill Belichick and his Patriots are having joint practices against the man that used to run their offense, Josh McDaniels. From the looks of things, New England’s defense was simply no match for the Raiders’ loaded offense. Obviously, perspective is important. This is practice. However, these joint ones offer about as close to a gameday-type situation as you can have in the offseason. While the Carr-led offense looked, No. 4 still believes there’s room to improve.
“If I’m honest, we still have room to improve. I think that there are some things that we did really well today and there are some things that when we turn the film on, we’re going to be like, ‘Oh, wow.’ Stuff that doesn’t even catch your eye, stuff that you say, ‘We had a good play,” so everyone’s excited.”
Derek Carr and Josh McDaniels are keeping these Raiders focused
It seems that the Raiders had good plays all day if you were following them on Twitter. At one point, Carr connected with Davante Adams for a beautiful reception that went 30-plus yards, according to onlookers. As fans, you tend to focus on the flashy aspect of a play like that, but as Carr points out, there’s more to it. Both he and McDaniels are likely looking at the little things that made that play possible, such as a key block. In fact, the coach and quarterback are emphasizing the importance of not becoming complacent in the midst of all the excitement.
“One thing I believe in that Josh [McDaniels] keeps talking about is just not getting caught up in where we’re at, just getting caught up in where we’re going, and always constantly just trying to be better. That’s just what he keeps preaching, so that’s what we keep preaching because he is our leader. I think that we’re at a place where we can play competitive football, so it’s exciting. It’s fun to be able to have all those reps with the guys today. But again, I still think that there’s always room in certain areas to definitely improve.”
There’s still much work to be done as the Raiders wrapped up today’s practices. On the other hand, you just know Carr can’t help but like what he’s seeing. This is, after all, the most loaded offense he’s going to lead, arguably. It’s easy to be in awe of a completed deep pass or a flashy touchdown, but Carr knows there’s more work to be done.
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*Top Photo: Sports Illustrated