Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Lions’ Goff gives Carr career blueprint
As Derek Carr goes through the emotions of being shown the door by the Raiders, the only NFL team he’s known and the one he envisioned playing his entire career with, he has found an advocate in Jared Goff.
As Goff, the Lions’ quarterback, can promise, amid the disappointment and unknown of being traded or released, a pleasant surprise might be in store.
“Often times a really great life,” Goff said Saturday at Allegiant Stadium, where he spent the early afternoon practicing with his teammates on the NFC Pro Bowl team for Sunday’s flag football game.
It was two years ago that Goff was essentially in the same position Carr finds himself in today. The Rams, who selected Goff with the No. 1 overall pick in 2016 and for whom Goff quarterbacked to the Super Bowl in 2018, had fallen out of love with him. And when an opportunity presented itself to acquire Matthew Stafford, they sent Goff, two first-round picks and a third-rounder to the Lions for Stafford.
Just like that, a face of the Rams’ franchise for five years found himself kicked to the curb. He went from the sunshine of Los Angeles and the glamour of playing quarterback for one of the NFL’S best teams to the cold and losing of Detroit, where the Lions have had four winning seasons in the previous 21 years.
The range of emotions ran the gamut.
“You go through all of them,” Goff said.
But then he picked himself up and went back to work, and the future started to look brighter. Goff found his balance again, and slowly but surely the Lions began getting better.
They finished 9-8 this season and barely missed the playoffs. Goff threw for 4,438 yards and 29 touchdowns and is enjoying every second of the new chapter he is writing for himself.
It serves as a reminder that one door closing — even as harshly as the one that closed on him in Los Angeles and the one closing on Carr in Las Vegas — doesn’t have to be the end game. In fact, the new door that opens might have a pleasant surprise.
“There’s definitely life on the other side,” Goff said.
It’s a message Goff relayed to Carr when the two hooked up at the Pro Bowl, where Carr is serving as one of the AFC quarterbacks.
“We had a really good talk about it earlier this week,” Goff said. “I think his head is in a great place about it, whatever ends up happening with him.”
Jacobs heads to Philippines
Raiders running back Josh Jacobs has a lot going on in the offseason — foremost trying to lock down a new contract that keeps him in Las Vegas. But he also has a trip planned to the Philippines, where he has become a hero because of his Filipino heritage and how he proudly wore the flag of the Philippines on his Raiders helmet this season.
“It’s definitely big,” Jacobs said of showing pride in his Filipino background. “Because my grandma, growing up, and my dad always kept us aligned with the culture over there and let us understand where we come from. Not a lot of us are in professional sports, so it’s good to be a prominent advocate for who we are and what we do, and what we believe.”
Adams not at practice
Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams, a member of the AFC Pro Bowl team, was not at Allegiant Stadium for Saturday’s practice. No official reason was given for his absence, though a person familiar with Adams said he wasn’t feeling well.