The Oakland Raiders officially began the Offseason Program Monday, and following their first day of workouts quarterback Derek Carr addressed the media.
Here are the highlights from his press conference.
It's time to get to work.
"On paper, it looks great right now. Paper champs, all those kind of things, everyone's picking us to do this and that – none of that matters unless we put the work in, and everyone knows that. No matter what, whether it's football, whatever you're doing, any kind of job, everything can look good on paper, and then you see sometimes, people fall apart, and then you question, did they really put the work in? For me, as the leader of this team, I'm just really going to concentrate on seeing where everybody's at, and then pushing each other just to be better every single day."
Head Coach Jack Del Rio has provided a much-appreciated sense of consistency.
"We have a great leader in Coach [Jack] Del Rio. He's our leader. We go as he goes. Whatever he tells us to do, we're going to do it. If he tells us to put our left shoe on first, we're going to put our left shoe on first because he thinks that's better for us. Whatever we have to do, and it's nice to have that, and to have it not only for the first time, but to have it again, like you said, going into the second year."
Carr is impressed with Kelechi Osemele.
"The first time I saw that guy, I couldn't believe how big he was. I couldn't believe – and not just how big he was, all offensive linemen are big – but that guy is jacked. You can tell he's not just a big guy – he's cut. He's lean. It's like, you weight three what and look like that? It's unreal. The guy is a freak of nature. It's going to be exciting to get him in there."
He also shared his thoughts on recently-signed cornerback Sean Smith.
"When you see him in person, he's one of the biggest corners… He probably is the biggest corner you'll ever see in your life. [Richard] Sherman is long. Sherman is a long guy. Sean is long, but he's bigger. I don't know if he's 15, 20 more pounds than Sherman is, but they both have that to them. They have that length, which is good in this defense. It's good for taking away windows down the seams and those kind of things and I know he's really good at that. He's really good at jumping routes too, as I've learned."
The sky's the limit for wide receiver Amari Cooper.
"He is so gifted, so talented. At the beginning, when we drafted him, when I first saw him run a route, I said, 'If he just continues to work the way that he does, the sky is the limit for him.' He can have a gold jacket if he wants to. I truly believe that. He works his tail off. He has the talent to do it. Now, obviously, things have to go the right way and all that, but I think that those simple things that maybe were recurring just happen one or two times and then doesn't happen anymore."
