The Raiders suffered another tough loss Sunday, and it had an emotional effect on Derek Carr.
The Jeff Saturday-led Indianapolis Colts beat Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium, dropping the Raiders further down the AFC West standings at 2-7. The blame was squarely on head coach Josh McDaniels, specifically for losing to an interim head coach who lacked pro or collegiate experience prior to Sunday.
But the NFL is also focused on the quarterback, and Carr didn’t have much explanation for Las Vegas’ third loss in a row.
“I can’t speak for everybody. I know where I stand, and I love the Silver and Black,” Carr told reporters in his postgame news conference, per team-provided video. “I’m gonna give everything I can every time I go out there. And I can’t speak for everybody, for every man, what’s going on in their head, but I can tell you what’s going on in my head. I’m gonna give it all that I can every single time.”
Carr was emotional and fought back tears. A year after making the playoffs and holding a 7-2 record in one-score games, the Raiders are 0-6 in such circumstances after Week 10, and they are very likely to miss the postseason. The ninth-year quarterback was asked if there was a disconnect between the players and the coaching staff.
“I don’t think so. I love Josh,” Carr said. “I love our coaches. They’ve had nothing but success, way more success than I’ve ever had. I’m sorry. … To finish that — sorry for being emotional — I’m just pissed off about some of things a lot of try and do just to practice, what we put our bodies through just to sleep at night. … And for that to be the result, of all that effort, it pisses me off, pisses a lot of guys off. It’s hard knowing what some guys are doing, like I said, just to practice. What they’re putting in their body just to sleep at night, just so we can be there for each other, and I wish everybody in that room felt the same way about this place. And as a leader, it pisses me off, if I’m being honest.”
The Pro Bowl QB hit on an aspect of football not often talked about, and as a leader of the team, it clearly weighed on Carr amid a tough season. The 32-year-old also didn’t hesitate to call out some of his teammates for their supposed lack of effort, but the blame would not only be on the players, but the coaching staff, especially at the midway point of the season.
“We had our leaders, and it’s not even something crazy,” Carr said. “We had our leaders address it man to man, just now, and it was good. It needed to be done, it needed to be said. I think for me, I’m always just going to show the way. I’m going to show the way. Show them what it looks like, show them how hard it is. … You gotta do the hard things. Josh always preaches ‘do the hard things right.’ And I’m not perfect.
“I’m never gonna be perfect, but the love I have for this place and the effort that I give will never be second to none every time. So, they addressed it, we addressed it. It’s not a problem. It was addressed. It was good, but I think the emotion of just nine years of stuff hit me today for how much I really love this place, and it’s not going to change anything. I’m gonna come here. I’m gonna fight, compete here next week. That’s what I’m going to do.”
McDaniels admitted in his postgame news conference he felt like he sounded like a “broken record” when commenting on the close loses this season. But the Raiders will need to find suitable answers to not make their season even worse than it already has become.
The Raiders face the Denver Broncos, who are also going through a rough year, in Week 11, and it appears Las Vegas will continue to hunt for moral victories for the rest of the season.
