Team hoping occasional rest will benefit Murray

Derek Carr and Latavius Murray would look at the Raiders’ rookie running backs performing well in training camp, and though it would mean fewer carries for Murray at some point soon, Carr nudged him.

“We’d sit back there and watch and I said, ‘Man, that’s the best thing that ever happened for you,’ ” Carr said Wednesday. “He would just laugh because as a competitor, he wants every rep. But I said, ‘Man, just remember that’s the best thing that happened to you.’

“Because every ball he gets, he’s going to be 100 percent fresh.”

Murray made the Pro Bowl last season, but his yards per carry dropped from 4.8 yards the first eight games to 3.3 the last eight.

Murray is averaging 5.3 yards on 22 carries in 2016. He ran over New Orleans linebacker James Laurinaitis in the season opener. Carr said that was “Angry Tay.”

“This year, I’m just making sure I use my size to my advantage, breaking tackles, trying to run through guys,” Murray said. “When that ball is in my hands, whoever is on the other side of the ball becomes the victim of Angry Tay.” Gravity not needed: Carr threw a 25-yard pass down the middle of the field against the Falcons a few seconds late for Amari Cooper on Sunday. Or maybe Cooper just jumped too early.

“It looked like the ball would be higher than it actually was, so I just jumped high, and I noticed it was kind of lower than I expected,” Cooper said. “So I had to kind of like wait (before) I came back down to catch it.”

The reporters on hand thought that was cool, and giggled. How did he do that, they asked.

“I don’t know,” Cooper said matter of factly. Briefly: Cornerback David Amerson (concussion) was limited in practice but head coach Jack Del Rio expects him to play in Nashville on Sunday. … Right tackle Menelik Watson (groin) returned to practice in a limited fashion . ... Austin Howard — who started in place of Watson on Sunday — gave his ankle a rest and sat out.