New Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden will be demanding a lot out of his team — especially his quarterback. Derek Carr says bring it on.
Carr spoke on “The Raiders Insider Podcast” with NBC Sports’ Scott Bair and shared his feelings on being coached by Gruden.
“I want him to be tough on me,” Carr said. “For anyone who thinks I want him to be a different way has no clue about me or how I play football or how I prepare to play this game.
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“(Jon) and I are going to get along great. I hope that he demands of me. I hope he’s hard on me. I don’t need to know he loves me. He has already told me that about 20 times. I appreciate that and we’ll be friends forever, but I know he’ll be demanding and tell me what I need to do. Let’s go fix problems that I have and let’s do what I need to do to win championships. Hopefully that will give people some insight and hopefully that’s the story that gets out, because that’s the truth.”
Carr was viewed as one of the up-and-coming quarterbacks in the league prior to this season. The 26-year-old had a promising rookie season and then improved in each of his next two seasons, even leading to the playoffs last season before suffering an injury. This season was different as he regressed for the first time, while the 6-10 Raiders became one of the biggest disappointments in the league.
Now with Gruden — an offensive and quarterbacks specialist — back in the fold, expectations will be high for the Raiders next season. Carr seems to be ready for the challenge, and even has a sense of humor about it.
