Raiders’ Derek Carr remains optimistic

As the Oakland Raiders begin the second half of the NFL season against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, Derek Carr will continue to be optimistic despite a 1-7 record.

Even when the ex-Fresno State star was sacked six times during a 34-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers last week at Levi’s Stadium.

“I hate losing,” Carr said Wednesday. “I may not be someone is seeing on TV yelling all the time or getting angry or upset, but this stuff hurts. I’m probably one of the most competitive people you’ll ever meet. I want to dunk on my nephews or I’ll block my 2-year-old’s shot . ... My wife gets mad at me, but I make it hard on them. I hate losing. I hate it with everything in me. I hate losing more than anything and I work my tail off to make sure our city, our fans, our team, coaches can just enjoy winning.”

Oakland will face the Chargers on Sunday at the OaklandAlameda County Coliseum before hitting the road again to face the Arizona Cardinals and Baltimore Ravens in back-toback weeks.

Carr promised that the misery the Raiders are facing will turn into positive results soon.

“Sitting here at 1-7 sucks, but nothing in me is going to stop until I see the other side of it. Trust me, I’m going to see the other side of it. When is it going to come? I don’t know. I wish I knew because it would make it easier on my heart, but I do know I will see the other side of it and I can’t wait to see it because you’ll be more thankful before than going through this stuff.”

When Carr started in the NFL, the Raiders opened 0-10 before finishing the season 3-13. The Raiders improved the next two years, going 7-9 in 2015 and 12-4 in 2016.

Oakland had high hopes last season but finished 6-10, leading to the firing of Jack Del Rio.

Jon Gruden’s return to the Raiders as coach hasn’t gone the exactly way Carr hoped for, but he said he remains optimistic about the future of the team.