Raiders GM Mike Mayock at combine: ‘I’m very happy with Derek Carr’

Raiders general manager Mike Mayock knew it was coming.

After an off-season of speculation regarding the status of quarterback Derek Carr, Mayock had prepared his answer for the assembled media Tuesday morning at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

The verdict?

About what you’d expect. Overall, Mayock was pleased with what Carr did en route to a 7-9 season with the only area of concern getting consistently into the end zone. In a separate side session with local writers, Mayock said he wasn’t going to be seeking a trade partner to move the quarterback.

“I can’t speak for anybody else. I know if I’ve got a question about a player on another team I pick up the phone and call the G.M.,” Mayock said. “I don’t really know what’s going to going to happen there. We’re not looking to actively move him. At all. We know what we have and we appreciate it.”

Here’s what Mayock said in its entirety regarding Carr at his podium session.

“The bottom line is this — I think everybody needs to understand at what level Derek Carr played last year. The guy completed 70 percent of his passes. He almost a three-to-one touchdown-tointerception ratio. I think we were No. 11 in the league in total yards, were seventh in third-down conversions.

“The disconnect was we didn’t score a lot of points. You’re (No.) 11 in yards and (No.) 24 in points there’s an issue. It’s defense. It’s special teams. It’s not scoring in the red zone and not scoring in goal-to-go. To me, those are the issues. Derek Carr played at a high level. I’m very happy with Derek Carr.”

As for the possibility of upgrading the position, Mayock reiterated every position on the team will be evaluated.

“What I’ve told everybody I’ve been in touch with since the day I took this job is we’re going to evaluate every position, every year. And if we can get better, we will. And guys get tired of me saying that, but that’s really what I told Mark Davis before I took the job and that’s my mantra.”

And in case it wasn’t clear that he thought Carr had played well last season, Mayock had the following response when asked about bringing in a veteran quarterback who can run Jon Gruden’s offense at a high level.