Gruden puts QB Carr to the test on Day 1
Derek Carr and his Raiders teammates got their first chance to put into practice what they’ve learned of head coach Jon Gruden’s playbook at Day 1 of veteran minicamp Tuesday.
Gruden didn’t exactly ease into things.
“He threw everything at me,” Carr said with a grin. “He tried to get me, see if I was listening to him in the meetings.”
The quarterback, apparently, was ready.
“He was all over it,” Gruden said of Carr. “We tried to give him some audibles, different situations on the very first day. He didn’t blink.”
The coaching of players, the interaction on the field, is what Gruden has said he missed most during his time as a TV analyst. On Tuesday, he ran his first practice since 2008, his voice carrying distinctly across the Raiders’ practice fields in Alameda as he paced through stretching lines and barked instructions.
“The practice field has always been a laboratory for a coach,” Gruden said afterward. “That’s where we earn our pay, I think. We’ve got to develop this team, we’ve got to learn a lot about them quickly. We’ve got a lot of things to teach, a lot of areas to improve.
“It was fun to be out there. I don’t want to be too deep or philosophical — I might start crying.”
Sarcasm aside, Gruden described this week’s minicamp as “a little bit of an examination” for the 77 players on the Raiders’ roster. Their offseason program has consisted of strength and conditioning training and hourlong blocks of studying the schemes Gruden and his coaches plan to implement. On Tuesday, for the first time, players put on helmets and ran drills and formations on the field.
The group included a new coaching staff and 20 new players signed in free agency. Still, Carr said afterward the “coolest takeaway from today was that it didn’t feel like a Day 1.” Receiver Jordy Nelson, one of the new faces, agreed that it was an efficient practice.
“The energy level that (Gruden) brings is amazing,” Nelson said. “And somehow, I think, he’s consistent with it day in and day out, which is pretty impressive. That’s fun, and I think we’ll feed off that. And I think that’s why we were kind of successful today in our tempo and what we were able to accomplish. He’s bringing the energy, and it feeds down to the rest of us.”
Some logistical changes were evident in the window of practice open to reporters. No music played during stretches or drills. At the end of one field, a large video screen had been installed. Gruden joked the addition was “for me, so I could see myself on TV again,” before explaining its purpose is to let coaches replay practice reps immediately and make corrections — something he picked up from watching head coach Jim Harbaugh’s practices at Michigan.
“We’re fixing things an hour before we usually would,” Carr said when asked about the video screen. “So I think that’s really cool.”
The dynamic between Gruden and Carr is seen as central to the Raiders improving on last season’s 6-10 finish, in which the offense ranked 23rd in the NFL in scoring (18.8 points per game) and committed 28 turnovers.
Gruden has said part of what drew him back to Oakland was the chance to work with Carr, who in 2017 had his fewest passing yards (3,496) and lowest passer rating (86.4) since his rookie season. Gruden did not sound disappointed after Tuesday’s up-close look at Carr on the field.
“I got really excited out there today,” Gruden said. “You can have a real creative imagination with that guy at your quarterback position. He can make every throw. Comes out of his hand fast and accurate. He’s mobile, he’s sharp, he’s a great leader.”
Carr, who has known Gruden since 2014, said little has changed in the demeanor of the coach who made a point of challenging him Tuesday.
“He’s hard on me, he pushes me,” Carr said. “At the same time he’ll tell me, ‘I love you man.’ You know how he feels about you, so when he pushes you, you don’t care, because you want to do anything for him. You want to go through a wall for him. I think our whole team feels like that.
“I think you can feel a little bit of difference around him and it’s really cool.”