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NAPA—Whatever it was that Geno Smith did or said to prompt a Jets teammate to smash his jaw a few days ago, the Raiders are quite sure of one absolute thing:
That would never happen to Derek Carr, the Raiders’ starting quarterback, offensive leader, and genial, respected cohort.
Never. Ever. Zero chance.
“If someone did that to Carr, they’d have to see me next,” Raiders left tackle Donald Penn told me with a nice growl after Wednesday’s practice.
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“And then probably the rest of the O-line.
“That would never happen here. I’m not worried about that.”
Of course, there are dozens of things that aren’t quite certain about Carr heading into his second season with the Raiders.
After a promising—but defeat-filled—rookie year, Carr still has to prove he can be a winner in the NFL and still has to show he can take advantage of the Raiders’ upgraded receiving corps.
That’s all TBA.
But Carr’s status within the Raiders rank and file has never been much in doubt, from the moment he won the starting job as a rookie into this camp.
So when the Smith incident was brought up Wednesday, the Raiders could only shrug and emphasize that they could envision no circumstances that would lead to a similar Carr crisis.
“I just can’t imagine anybody feeling that way toward Derek,” coach Jack Del Rio said of the punch by (since released) New York linebacker IK Enemkpali that broke Smith’s jaw, “so it’s just a shocking thing to see from afar.”
That’s a large point for anybody, and especially a young quarterback on a team that has had its share of dysfunction in the recent past.
Carr showed both physical and emotional chops last season, but he will need a lot more of both if he’s the man to lead the Raiders back into contention.
It’s happening.
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“One thing about him, he’s the first one to admit when he’s wrong,” Penn said of Carr. “That takes a lot for one of your leaders to say that.
“This year–looking forward to big things from that guy.”
A few months ago, Carr ran a brief set of passing-game workouts in Bakersfield, and Michael Crabtree, Andre Holmes, Mychal Rivera and others made sure they showed up.
In fact, Carr’s immediate bond with Crabtree is more than notable.
Crabtree was never very fond of off-season work during his long stint with the 49ers and could have come to the Raiders with a chip on his shoulder after receiving very little free-agent interest in the winter.
But on Wednesday, Carr happily pointed out that the two posed for joke pictures—Carr dunking on Crabtree, Crabtree punching Carr in the face—and that the two men are in serious synchronicity.
“What I love him about him is he loves to work,” Carr said of Crabtree. “You saw that about him by flying out to Bakersfield; people didn’t know he was in a different country the day before.
“He wants to work. He’s so competitive and he just wants to win. That’s what I love about him.”
Wednesday’s practice—the last official one before the preseason opener vs. St. Louis on Friday at the Coliseum—was relatively short, which is maybe why Crabtree was held out of team drills.
That gave first-round pick Amari Cooper even more of the spotlight in practice, and he glided around the field like a seasoned playmaker.
So has Carr counseled Cooper about how to approach his first NFL preseason game?
“I kind of mess with the rookies, ‘You guys nervous yet?’” Carr said. “They’re like, ‘No! No!’ I know exactly: Yes you are.”
That’s the tone of Carr’s presence on this team, which doesn’t seem forced or overwrought. It’s just his natural personality, and competitive push to get everybody moving forward.
And it all makes the Jets incident seem even more like insanity to the Raiders.
“I just never even think that should happen,” Carr said of Smith’s injury. “Especially around here—we don’t think that’ll happen.
“We just try to build a great relationship with everybody to where those kinds of things don’t happen.”
There is no way anything like that would happen in the Raiders locker room, not to Carr, not in this atmosphere, and for this franchise, that is absolutely something worth knowing.
GREAT article from Tim Kawakami today.