Quarterback Derek Carr
The Oakland Raiders are scheduled to open up the 2016 season on the road against the New Orleans Saints. Quarterback Derek Carr spoke with media members Wednesday about facing former Raiders head coach and current Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. Carr shared his thoughts about preparing for Sunday's matchup and his admiration for potential NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees.
Here are the quick hits from Carr's session:
Carr expressed his gratitude to Allen and what it will be like playing against him.
"I'm so thankful for [defensive coordinator] coach [Dennis] Allen, because he gave me my first chance. Obviously, he's not going to be rooting for me this week, but I just wanted to say that, that I was thankful. And he knows that, I've expressed it to him, how thankful I am that he not only gave me a chance to play in the NFL but give me a chance to start and trust in me for that."
**He shared his thoughts on the importance of Week 1 and starting out strong.
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"This year, it's just like we're all going to work. It feels like the feeling preparing for this game is like a feeling we had during last year midseason. That's how it feels. We're preparing, we know that we have a great test ahead of us in New Orleans. They're a Super Bowl team not too long ago, my goodness. They have a Hall of Fame quarterback, they have great young players on defense. So, you know what they have, now we're just preparing for them."
The signal-caller talked about Brees being a quarterback he watched growing up.
"[I'm a] huge fan, huge fan of Drew Brees. He's a Hall of Famer. He's one of the top five most accurate quarterbacks of all-time. Some of the balls that he has thrown, those are throws you dream of and he does it almost every week. I have nothing but respect for him. I think that he's definitely one of the best to ever play this game."
Carr feels more comfortable being in the same system for a second year.
"Now, it's nice to have the same system, same terminology. Now we can grow off of that in the offseason. But, there's not a number you can put on that, because as a player it just gives us so much familiarity that we can just go out there on the football field and just play. You don't have to think too much. You're just out there playing and that makes it really nice."
He opened up about the crowd noise in opposing stadiums, and how he enjoys it.
"Oh yeah, I was just talking about this, I love playing with the noise. I really do, because then you don't have to hear anything else. There's not all these side conversations or this or that. You're just in your own zone, you're going through your own process. I really, I love it. I love it."
