Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr threw a costly interception in their 26-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, his eighth pick through five games. With a first-and-goal at the Chargers' 1-yard line, Carr turned the ball over as the Raiders lost a golden opportunity to put points up.
After the game, Raiders head coach Jon Gruden was critical of his quarterback’s decision-making when it comes to important situations.
“I think he'll tell you — he's just trying — he's just trying so hard,” Gruden told reporters, via the Raiders' official website. “The call, certainly, the call is to hand the ball to Lynch there because of what happened, but first-and-goal at the 1[-yard line], play-pass faking to Lynch has been a great call for a lot of years.
“I think he just presses at some moments and he knows we have to do a lot with the ball when we have it, and I think that's what happened today.”
This isn’t the first time Gruden has been brutally honest with his criticism of one of his players. But on this occasion, it’s warranted. Even Carr agreed with Gruden's assessment when he was asked about it, as he admits he “just tried to just do too much.”
While Carr has shown great ability as a quarterback, this part of his game clearly needs more improvement if he’s to reach that next level. The Raiders brought Gruden back in as a coach to help Carr to do just that. If the first five games of the season are any indication, the two still have a lot of work to do to iron out that particular flaw.
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