Rookie wideout Carr turns heads
FOXBORO — Jimmy Garoppolo threw a great ball, but Austin Carr still had some work to do.
With defensive back Will Likely draped on him, Carr ran a route to the corner of the end zone during 2-on2 drills yesterday, but the pressure didn’t faze him. The Patriots rookie wide receiver turned and leapt for the ball, snagged it from Likely and held on as he twisted to the ground.
The catch seemingly won the drill for the offense, as the defense immediately went down as a group to do push-ups. Carr spun the ball on the ground in the end zone, a fired-up offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels ran over toward him, and Matthew Slater — Carr’s newest mentor — was the first to greet him on his first big play.
In his first day of training camp, Carr made a great first impression.
“If anything, it felt like football is back,” Carr said. “I’m not going to make every play. You saw it out there today, I didn’t make every play, but it’s just such a refreshing and fun experience to know football’s back.”
Carr isn’t the type that’s going to get too high or too low. That’s how he got to this point in the first place.
The 6-foot-1 slot receiver was a walk-on at Northwestern before earning a scholarship as a junior. As a senior, he caught 90 passes and was named the Big Ten Receiver of the Year.
With the Patriots, he’s following a similar route. Carr was undrafted this spring and signed with the Pats as a free agent — he said in the spring that he wanted to join a winning program and learn from the veterans. With a loaded receiver group in front of him, Carr is at best on the bubble to make the 53-man roster, but given Andrew Hawkins’ retirement this week, he will certainly get more opportunities to prove himself.
Days like yesterday won’t hurt.
“I’m looking at the marathon and not the sprint, and that means putting one day after another,” Carr said. “I know that they harp on that a lot, and you guys (in the media) probably get bored hearing that all the time, but it’s one day after the other. That’s how I earned my way at Northwestern and I know that’s going to be how I earn my way here.”
For Carr, it’s all about preparation, too. After balancing being a student-athlete and doing other hobbies on the side at Northwestern, Carr is excited to commit himself 100 percent to football. The wide receiver has been using flash cards to get up to speed with the playbook, and even went back to Northwestern recently to run routes with old quarterback Clayton Thorson.
Carr, who also got looks from Tom Brady, spent extra time after practice to work with third-string quarterback Jacoby Brissett, which wasn’t mandatory.
“You just have to take it one day at a time,” Carr said. “I can’t get too high up on myself, I have to humble myself. I think I really need to learn from the vets and do more, say less kind of attitude.”
It’s early, but Carr is already backing that up in his actions and words. When he was asked what it’s like to walk around and people say he plays for the Patriots, the rookie stayed grounded.
“It’s an honor, it’s a privilege, but my mindset right now is I don’t play for them yet,” he said. “I have to earn my way on to the roster.”