The Oakland Raiders reportedly will name Jon Gruden their new head coach next week, at which point Derek Carr’s life could change forever.
The quarterback is coming off his fourth NFL season — all with Oakland — and his third under Jack Del Rio, who was fired as the Raiders’ head coach following their Week 17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. He’s expected to be around for a while, having signed a five-year, $125 million contract extension back in June, but a league source recently told ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio there’s a real concern that Carr won’t be able to put up with Gruden’s style for very long.
You see, Gruden isn’t afraid to get on his players, sometimes yelling at them or criticizing them, and not everyone is capable of handling the heat. Carr is a rather soft-spoken guy, and there reportedly is reason to believe he won’t make it with Gruden given the way he’s wired.
“Jon Gruden is not easy to deal with,” Chris Simms, a former NFL quarterback and current co-host of “PFT Live,” told Florio by phone Thursday. “He’s in your face, he’s blunt, he’s extremely honest. At the same time, he’ll be extra hard on a quarterback if he knows the kid has talent. The quarterback has to remember it’s only because he wants him to be better and knows he can be better.
“If he wasn’t yelling at you, that’s the bigger concern,” Simms added. “It’s all for the greater good. It’s only going to make you a better quarterback.”
Gruden regards the offense as his “red Lamborghini,” according to Simms, and it’s up to the quarterback to make sure he appropriately handles the responsibility of having the keys.
“When there’s a lane to go to 100 (miles per hour), you’d better go 100,” Simms told Florio. “But you’d better not scratch it, either.”
