Raiders QB Derek Carr (11.1.20)

Raiders QB Derek Carr:

On today’s win:

“Obviously, our goal is to score points. The way we did this one today, I am not going to lie to you, but it was kind of fun. Mr. (General Manager Mike) Mayock texted me this morning and he said, like he always does, ‘Your job is to find a way to win’ because when we woke up, that wind was howling. We both said ‘nobody cares’ and that we need to find a way to win, whatever it takes. We found a way to win, and whenever you are able to do it the way we did where everyone has to deal with the conditions, it feels good. A team coming from Las Vegas and the desert, a team that comes from the West Coast and came out here into the cold and terrible weather, that is a good feeling, especially on the road.”

On Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden discussing the Raiders previous struggles in cold weather:

“If we are being honest, we haven’t been able to do that in a long time and not in my tenure year. When I was a rookie and I showed up here, everyone talked about we can’t win when we go to the East Coast or we can’t win in the cold weather. I remember all that from my rookie year so it has been around for a while. It gives us confidence because Mr. Mayock and Gruden have brought in the right kind of people. They can find a way to win. I have been in some locker rooms with some guys before where when it gets a little cold or a little windy or rainy, the look in their eyes turns a little bit different. Today in pregame, in the locker room, and as we took the field, I felt like there was nothing stopping us because of everyone’s energy and juice. We are just going to have fun. That is what we are here to do. I have been to the Pro Bowl and I have gotten paid big money and things like that, but I do not care about that stuff. I really don’t. I want to win football games, and that is why I have given everything I have so when we win a game like this, it makes me pumped, especially with the way we had to grind it out.”

On the Raiders OL’s performance:

“It was unbelievable, right? I will tell you what, for some of you guys that have been around here for a while, we could write a pretty good book in just my seven years here. There has been some crazy stuff that has happened, and today was another one of those days. Honestly, I got a little scared for (T) Trent (Brown) today. I thought ‘Man, I hope he is OK.’ We had no clue what was happening. All of a sudden, we came in this morning and they are wheeling him out and I was trying to figure out what was going on. It was crazy. As a team, we prayed for him. We made sure he was OK and his family was OK because I am sure they were scared to death, too. Then you have to compartmentalize what just happened with we have to go win a football game in the worst weather I have ever played in in my life. I am really proud of our offensive line. I wish I could talk about them for 30 minutes. I am proud of those guys and what (Raiders offensive line) Coach (Tom) Cable and (Raiders offensive quality control coach) Austin (King) were able to prepare those guys for anything and everything and every situation. It is pretty unbelievable what they are able to do and it shows that we have good football character.”

On extending plays with his legs today:

“They got mad at me because I was not sliding today, but I had to feel like I was helping out somehow. With how the weather was, anything over 10 yards, your guess was as good as mine as to where that ball was going to end up. It was ridiculous. It rained, it sleeted, it snowed and it was snowing sideways. Who knows what the wind was. Like I said before, Mr. Mayock texted me this morning and said, ‘It does not matter what it takes, just find a way to win.’ To me, there were a couple times where I could have sat in the pocket and tried to let something develop, but when it opened up, I just took off and did not have the privilege to slide a couple of times because I had to get the first down. I had to try – just like last week – and I am just thankful those plays worked out. I feel like as a football fan, whenever the quarterback tries does that kind of stuff, it pumps the whole sideline up. It pumps the whole team up when the quarterback lowers his shoulder, even if he is being an idiot. It pumps the team up. I have tried to jump over people and I have tried to run over people, and I might not be the best at it, but I am going to try it. I felt like those moments right there ignite our sideline so if I am able to continue doing that, I might be a little more sore than usual, but whatever it takes to win is all I care about.”

On their previous struggles travelling east and playing in Cleveland:

“Absolutely. I think we all agree that we have all probably made mistakes in our lives, and the first thing you must do is to admit it. You must admit that I have not been my best here or I have not been my best at this or that for whatever reason. This was an opportunity for us to take what Coach was saying and do something about it. I practiced with two gloves on. I practiced with no gloves on. I switched it up because the forecast was saying it might rain or it might snow or it might be windy so we prepared. That is what we do. We have our process of how to deal with those things. I have never played a game with a right-handed glove on, but I did that. I took it off when it stopped raining, then put it back on when it started again and then took it back off later. If you let that stuff get in your head, then you would be a headcase. At the end of the day, I do not care. I just want to win. Whatever it takes to win, we have to figure out how to do that and we have a group of guys that when we admit that we have not done it that well, we owned it in practice and owned it today. We owned it in a way that we were going to embrace it.”

On the Raiders’ defensive performance after recent criticism:

“We do not point fingers around here on this team. Obviously, I have had struggles before and no one pointed fingers at me. The defense has had struggles before and no one points fingers at them. We are a close-knit group and we always have been. We try to stay that way because there is so much outside stuff that tries to tear you apart, not only as football players but as people. Whether you believe this way or believe that way or think this way or think that way, people are always trying to tear us apart so we try to do our best to stay together, no matter what, and try to be tight knit as a pack. As long as you keep that fist closed, nothing can get in. I love Pat Hill for that. It really showed me that no matter where the struggles are happening, you must stay closed and you must stay like a fist. When it happens and there is success that happens, it feels better. There is just more joy. You know you encouraged those guys and you encouraged somebody, just like I was encouraged early in my career when I was struggling. (Former NFL CB) C-Wood (Woodson) would pull me aside and talk to me and encourage me, (former NFL DE) Justin Tuck, all those guys. To see the way they played the football game today for us was awesome.”

On Gruden and today’s style of play:

“He loves those type of football games. When he has his plays and is able to dial up all his cool stuff, where I can check things and throw for 300 yards he loves that, but I really think he loves this more. The toughness, the grit, the attitude, I am sure Pat Hill will text me the same thing. His favorite play is power and the power running game. I am sure I will get a text from him about the power running game. I think those two are the same guy. They love grinding it out like this and playing great defense and running the ball at people. They love that stuff.”

On Raiders RB Josh Jacobs’ performance:

“That is Josh. He is one of the best running backs in the NFL. We have a lot of good players on our team, and Josh is one of them. The way he was able to run the ball really ignited us. I was joking around with him at the end of the game that I am an honorary running back today – we had four running backs today (laughter). He is the man. He is awesome.”

# # #