Quarteback Derek Carr
Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr had a monstrous game Sunday, totaling 513 passing yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was back at practice Wednesday to continue his preparation for the Denver Broncos, but took the time to speak with reporters about his performance. He touched on a variety of topics, but made it clear he's zoned in on this week's AFC West matchup against the Broncos.
Here are the quick hits from his time at the podium:
**Carr shared his thoughts on all the MVP praise he's been receiving recently, and isn't caught up in the hype.
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"I would rather not hear anything. I would rather just go about my business and hangout with my family, to be honest. But, it's a part of this business, it's a part of this job so… Trust me, I'm very honored and thankful, don't get me wrong, but at this point in the year, that stuff is, it's cool but it's not for me."
He discussed what it will be like facing a stout Broncos defense this Sunday.
"Oh yeah, everything that you guys think, they're one of the best defenses in the NFL, let alone this year, but for the last however many years, they've been one of the best we've ever seen in this league. So, they're always a good challenge for us, but we're definitely looking forward to it."
The third-year quarterback acknowledged his desire to continue developing, and will strive to progress.
"I always want to get better at everything I do, so to see that the hard work is paying off because you spend a lot of hours that people don't see that you go put in, especially in the offseason. You put the work in, you get up in the mornings before anyone else wants to and things like that. It's cool to see it paying off, but there's still so much on my mind and in my heart that I want to do and get better at, so I'm just not going to stop."
**Carr talked about the team's current record of 6-2, and only cares that the team is winning.
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"I'm happy with where we're at with six wins. That's the main thing to me. We won seven last year, we already have six at the halfway point. If you would have told me that, I would have been excited, but I would have wanted two more, you know? That's always going to be my mindset. To see where we're at as a team, that's really what fires me up. Because, we can go out there and if we ran the ball 59 times last week and won, I would have been the happiest person in that locker room, so I just want to win."
He expressed how he felt after breaking the Raiders single-game passing record against the Bucs.
"Yeah, that's why it's crazy to me. I still think of myself as a little kid, just a fan of the game. It's still kind of surreal and I don't think it will be real to me until I'm done playing and I can kind of look back. For now, I'm not going to look back. I have too much ahead of me. But, someday I'll look back at it and it's just one of those things, it's like surreal. You can't believe it. It's like a video game. Your name's up there but is it really yours? So far, it doesn't mean anything, but I'm sure someday it will."
