Quarterback Derek Carr
The Oakland Raiders are gearing up to face not only an AFC West rival this Thursday, but one of the premier teams in football. The Kansas City Chiefs are currently 5-1, and the importance of beating a division opponent is something Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is all too aware of. Following walk thru Monday evening, the former Fresno State Bulldog met with the media regarding the impending matchup.
Here are the quick hits from his presser:
Carr talked about his current health, and how he feels after returning to action.
"Actually, I woke up, I felt better today. That shows us that it is healing. It's not something that can be set back by being bumped or moved around, that kind of stuff, which is encouraging. That was really cool. But I did. I woke up this morning feeling better than I felt the day before."
No. 4 emphasized that this week's game is a big one, and getting a win is a must.
"Well, definitely this week. As cliché as we can get, you have to go 1-0 this week. But yeah, absolutely. It's a division game, which really counts for two. They usually do. You want to go out there and beat one of the best teams in football. We have them coming to our place on a short week. So all the challenges are there. Everything is pushing our back against the wall, but one thing I know we're going to do is we're going to come out on Thursday night and fight. We're definitely excited to have them come into our place this week."
He shared how defenses are trying to take the deep ball away from the Raiders offense this season.
"Yeah, they're definitely trying by the way that they… In line and in play coverages and certain things. Those kind of things can be frustrating if you let it be or we can just try to solve problems. That's kind of something that we're learning now as we're seeing teams do that. We're figuring out ways, 'Hey man, how can we still be able to do that and create explosive plays?'"
**Carr discussed the addition of former San Francisco 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman.
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"He's one of the best middle linebackers in football. I know that from watching him on film. Nothing you hear about the guy is negative. Nothing you hear about the guy is bad. He's a hard worker. He's super smart. Just like all those Penn State linebackers are, super smart. And he plays aggressive. He's going to bring a lot of leadership to our football team."
He broke down how moving on from last week's loss will be easier on a short week.
"It's easier on your heart, yeah. These Thursday night games are good for that. This league, whether we won or lost, you have to get rid of it. You have to flush it. You can't get too high, you can't get too low. That's one thing that a short week does. Hey, it's time to move on. That's what we have to do any. It's absolutely a good thing. I guess it happened at a good time for us. Our main focus now is just going into our stadium and helping one of the best teams in football and trying to get a victory."
