Quarterback Derek Carr
This afternoon at the Oakland Raiders training facility, quarterback Derek Carr took the podium to speak about being a leader and his passion for the game of football. Carr shared his feelings about staying composed and calm, when things might not be going his way.
Here are the key takeaways from his time with the media:
Carr opened up about how he stays cool and collected in the face of adversity.
"I always just try and make sure I'm always in control of that, you know, make sure I'm always in control of the way I am. Ninety-nine percent of the time I'm just going to be excited and happy to be out here. I love football, I love going to practice, I love being around my teammates. In doing this, this stuff you dream of as a little kid."
He shared his thoughts on being able to try new things in the preseason, as opposed to the regular season.
"Coach Downing always tells me, it's a great opportunity to see what you can get away with. It really is, I take that really to heart and do it. Its things like the preseason that you can have those moments, it's not a decision that's going to hurt us, but if it's a decision that works it's going to be a great thing for us."
Similar to Head Coach Jack Del Rio, Carr provided some positive comments about wide receiver Johnny Holton.
"I told Johnny when we hit training camp, I said, 'You are the most improved player this whole offseason.' I have never seen someone jump that much since Seth, since I saw Seth make that jump. I'm very happy for Johnny, he's a great guy, he's a very quiet, humble spirit about him which is cool. But then he goes out there and runs a 4.2 [forty-yard dash] past everybody, you know? So, it's fun for me to see, but at the same time, I'm rooting for him because I want him to be able to help this football team."
**The third-year signal caller discussed his relationship with veteran wide receiver Michael Crabtree and how they communicate.
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"Sometimes it's about our boys and sometimes it's about football and it's about different coaching styles, different things that he used to communicate that would make sense to him and things that make sense to me. He's very intelligent and very intellectual when it comes to football. He likes the thinking part of it. It's fun to be around a guy like that because I'm the same way. So, I like to be able to talk to him like that."
Carr playfully answered how he would feel about having star gold medal Olympian Usain Bolt on the roster.
"I'd throw it really far. (laughter) I'd have to throw it really far and really early, yeah. I think I saw something that he ran almost 27 miles per hour and they compared like Julio Jones ran like 21 or 22. I was like, that comparison to me, that's ridiculous."
