Derek Carr Excited After First Week Throwing to Amari Cooper
By Chase Ruttig
Jun 9, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) at minicamp at the Raiders practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Derek Carr was excited about the opportunity to throw the football to Amari Cooper since the seconds after the Oakland Raiders made the Alabama wideout the fourth overall selection in the 2015 NFL Draft. However the team’s starting quarterback had to wait longer than expected to get extended time to throw to what could be his new favorite toy in the Raiders offense, injuring his ring finger that sidelined him for nearly the entirety of OTAs.
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Because of that brief injury setback, 2015 Raiders Minicamp last week was Carr’s first opportunity to take his new weapons out for a test drive as the quarterback returned to nearly full health for the mandatory minicamp sessions. That included Carr getting a chance to get his first up close experience with his prized rookie wideout and unsurprisingly the quarterback came out of the week of minicamp sessions excited as well as impressed with Cooper.
Carr told reporters at minicamp last week that he came away impressed with how Cooper came out of his breaks and the athleticism blended with skill that makes the first round pick of the Raiders so special as a receiving prospect.
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“Oh, my goodness! It was nice to get out there and to see just how quick he is out of his breaks,” Carr said during one of his press conferences last week following minicamp sessions. “There was one ball that I put on this side of his facemask instead of the front and led him. It would have been a big play, and that’s just the stuff of us getting our timing down. But it made me see like, wow, he can really get in there. I can just let it go. It’s nice. It slows the rush down, too, because you get the ball out and they’re angry that they couldn’t get to you — all those good things. It was good to get out there and throw to him.”
“I think he’s going to be really special if he continues to work like he does,” Carr added about Cooper’s potential with the team.
Now that Carr is healthy, the new “AC/DC” duo can develop important timing and get into a groove before the regular season starts in September. Both likely set to be stars in Oakland for the longterm, Carr and Cooper are a safe bet to develop a good connection with one another, but it is hard not to get excited seeing the futures of the franchise forming the first steps in their receiver/quarterback relationship as the start of the 2015 season nears closer.