In a season marked by unprecedented and unpredictable off-the-field adversity, the Raiders have, to this point, responded with a drive and a focus on football.
On Wednesday, Derek Carr said he remained confident that wouldn't change any time soon.
"From a football aspect, we're ready to go," Carr told reporters. "We had a great practice. We're dealing with a lot of things this year, that's for sure. ... [F]rom a football aspect, from a competitive aspect, we're ready to play football. There's no doubt about that. We know where we're at from that standpoint and we know what we have to do."
That includes preparing to face a New York Giants team that kept pace against Kansas City in last Monday's primetime clash. It also comes at a time of year that previous Raiders teams have faltered, something Carr acknowledged.
"We know that this was the time of year where we hit a lull a couple of times and we can't let that happen no matter what's going on," Carr said. "Me and [No.] 91, me and Yann [Yannick Ngakoue] say it to each other every day, 'Nobody cares.' At the end of the day, nobody cares. What you're going through, how your body feels, nobody cares. We have to do our job. We emphasized that again to each other today, 'Hey, I got your back. You got mine. Nobody cares man, we got to go.'"
The key to this approach has been building resiliency and strengthening bonds as a team on the field, including continuing to define the "We Not Me" mentality that Rich Bisaccia has helped preach since taking over as interim head coach.
We are all forging our identity in life and certainly in the locker room through how we face adversity and how we deal with adversity. That’s kind of how life goes. So, I think they understand that. Coach Bisaccia
"Coach Bisaccia always says 'We-fense,'" Carr noted. "We just have a group of unselfish people that, I say it all the time, it would be so great to go on a run with this group of guys. It really would because nobody cares who gets the glory. ... When you have guys that are good football players but even better people, you end up with a good football team. That doesn't guarantee you're going to win, but it does make coming to work a lot more fun."
Take a look at Darren Waller for example.
Waller opened the season with 19 targets in Week 1, but that number has fluctuated as teams have focused on No. 83 and Carr has spread the ball around to different receivers. But Waller, the quarterback says, isn't phased.
"Our superstar player and our tight end is the most selfless player on our team, and when your best player is your most selfless player, everyone else has to fall in line," Carr said. "Who can argue about not getting targets if his targets go from 20 to four one day?
"He's the biggest cheerleader on the sideline in the game that he's not playing. He's the most supportive. I would just say that being selfless and being prepared [is our key]."
Bisaccia, meanwhile, looks at the hardships as growing opportunities both on and off the field.
"We are all forging our identity in life and certainly in the locker room through how we face adversity and how we deal with adversity," he said. "That's kind of how life goes. So, I think they understand that."
