Scrambling when the chances arise
A few days removed from his split-second decision to dive for the end zone on the decisive play of the Raiders’ loss to the Cowboys last Sunday — one that backfired when he fumbled into the end zone for a touchback — quarterback Derek Carr was asked Thursday whether he would have made a different play given a second chance.
“I don’t think I would’ve, to be honest,” Carr said.
“When I took off to jump, in my head I was like, ‘Oh, this is a touchdown,’ because I knew I had the corner. From a mindset standpoint, looking back, yeah I want to do something different because we lost. But from making that decision, I always think of it like in basketball terms: I’d rather take the last shot and miss it than pass it off and try and do it another way.”
That Carr attempted to run for a touchdown with the game on the line was, in itself, notable.
Though certainly not the most mobile of quarterbacks, Carr has showed glimpses of his running ability in the past. Two years ago, he ran 33 times for an average of 4.2 yards. And there was the play in last season’s opener against the Saints, when Carr forward-flipped over a defender while sprinting for a first down.
That facet of Carr’s game had been missing this season. An offensive line featuring three Pro Bowlers has lessened the number of times Carr has needed to scramble. Still, Carr entered the Dallas game having rushed 14 times for 15 yards, and appeared hesitant at times to leave the pocket to extend plays.
Against Dallas, Carr rushed four times for 47 yards. Three times he gained first downs, the exception being the pivotal fumble, on which Carr had crossed the first-down line. His 32-yard scramble on a 3rdand-6 was Carr’s longest run since a 41-yard gain in Week 2 of his rookie season.
Carr said Thursday that he expected to have opportunities to run against a Dallas defense that “runs a lot of games up front,” bringing rushers from different angles.
“Some teams you play are straight rush and they’re just waiting for you to run,” Carr said. “In games like that, even though it is man coverage, you can’t really take off because they’re just waiting for you.
“But this was a game where, if (pass rushers) run into each other, there’s a whole side of the field (open). On the long one, they ran a big game, and I was able to step up and go out.”
Head coach Jack Del Rio said afterward the coaches had not “directly” encouraged Carr to run more, but Del Rio suggested those plays were an example of Carr playing with more “zest.”
“If there’s some opportunities, take it, that’s who you are,” Del Rio said Sunday night. “Be who you are. Just be yourself. … That was an example of him being him, being aggressive and taking off and making some plays with his feet.”
Carr suffered a fractured right fibula in Week 16 last season and a transverse-process fracture in his lower back this season that caused him to miss the Raiders’ Week 5 game against Baltimore. Though he did not address those injuries specifically Thursday, Carr said he is “comfortable” scrambling under the right circumstances.
“I think we talked about it last year, the fine line of, ‘Do you stay in there for the third option, the fourth option, or do you take off ?’ ” he said.
“It’s something I feel comfortable with. It’s something I’m not going to do all the time, but to be able to have that, and make it just another mental checkpoint for me versus certain coverages and looks to know that, ‘Hey I can go do that.’ It’s something that I can grow in.
“I’ll never be the guy going, ‘This game I’m running five, seven, eight times.’ It won’t ever be like that. It’s just the situation and the play.”
With time ticking away Sunday night and the pocket shrinking around him, Carr saw room to his right and decided it was a situation to run. He pump-faked once before putting his head down and diving for the pylon, ball in his outstretched left hand.
“From a mind-set competitive standpoint, I’d definitely try it again — but maybe with a better technique, two hands, I don’t know,” Carr said. “Something to where we don’t lose the game. But for making that decision, I think I’d go for it again.”