ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Donald Penn likes what he’s seen from Oakland Raiders rookie quarterback Derek Carr on the field. But what may have impressed Penn most is what he saw Carr do after the team fell to 0-2 at home after a drubbing at the hands of the Houston Texans.
Carr waited for coach Dennis Allen to finish addressing the team. Then, it was Carr’s turn, Penn said.
“I’m not going to get into what he said, but I really liked what he said,” Penn said. “He’s a rookie and he showed that kind of leadership. I was impressed."
Carr said several veterans have spoken the team as well. Carr wouldn’t disclose exactly what he said, but he did give a glimpse.
“I just wanted to be an encouragement, that as long as we continue to work unselfishly, for each other -- and again, I’m trying to summarize it -- as long as we continue to work unselfishly, for each other, we’re going to start going down the right path,” Carr said. “You can watch me work. You can put it on my shoulders, because whatever anyone says, whatever anyone wants to put on my shoulders, it doesn’t matter. I can handle it. I’ve been through too much in my life to where I can handle it. Now let’s just go work together and fix this thing.”
Carr said he has seen a strong energy at practice this week and thinks players are determined to turn their fortunes around.
“We’re sitting here 0-2. That’s the truth. Now when we come to work, is it going to be, ‘Yeah, we’re 0-2, maybe we’ll turn it around?' No, these guys are working to turn it around. If you just stand back and watch them, you can see it,” Carr said. “Whether it’s just a little detail here or a little detail there, just sitting back and watching those guys, you’re like, ‘I can tell that that guy has’ -- maybe he doesn’t have a Super Bowl ring, maybe he does -- but I can tell he’s a winner and he’s a champion, maybe, if he doesn’t have a ring either. You just watch them work, especially in times like this. This is the hardest time to work. It’s the hardest time to do it.”
If the Raiders end their eight-game losing skid, dating back to last year and end a five-year losing streak in the Eastern Time Zone by knocking off New England on Sunday, be certain that many will be turning back to Carr’s locker-room speech as a rallying cry.