Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr can't stop fawning over new head coach Josh McDaniels.
In an interview with Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston, Carr opened up about the “genius” of McDaniels. Given the controversial second Raiders tenure of Jon Gruden, Carr's lavish praise of McDaniels kind of comes off as a subtle jab at Gruden:
“The depth of the conversations that we're having is encouraging,” Carr told NBC Sports Boston. “It's fun for me. The best part of my game has always been the mental side. And that's how Josh is. He's a genius when it comes to scheming things up and teaching his system and getting the best out of his players.”
The Raiders quarterback continued:
“I feel like a better football player. And I've had a lot of great coaches. He's come in, he's seen those things, ‘Wow, that's awesome. What about this, too? What about this here?' It's helping me grow. It's been really fun to be around him.”
Carr did note that he has “had a lot of great coaches,” which Gruden probably falls into here, but his comments about McDaniels are still eye-opening.
They're also good news for the Raiders, who will try to have more success in a loaded AFC West. Las Vegas made the playoffs last season for the first time since the 2016 campaign, but just like that season, the result was a loss in the Wild Card Round. The last playoff appearance before that? The Super Bowl XXXVII loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Gruden's time back with the Raiders was a mess, and now the hope is McDaniels can build on the work Rich Bisaccia did last season when he took over. At the very least, Derek Carr seems to be thrilled with how things are going so far.
Follow Us
Subscribe