Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said at his press conference that he is ready to go for offseason activities.
The most famous leg in Raider Nation belongs to none other than Derek Carr, who is rehabbing from a broken fibula suffered in Week 16. The leg of the franchise quarterback of the Oakland Raiders was a popular topic of conversation at his press conference to kick off the offseason program, and Carr says he is doing great:
"“I feel great,” said Carr following the first day of the Oakland Raiders Offseason Workout Program. “I’ve been running, jumping, throwing, cutting, everything. I’m ready to rock. I’m ready to do absolutely everything. I did everything my teammates did today. I’ll do everything my teammates do again tomorrow, so hopefully that just gives an idea.”"
The “I’m absolutely ready to do everything” quote is obviously great to hear, as he elaborated on the fact that he does not have any limitations. Which means that heading into the offseason, he won’t fall behind during training camp.
Carr also spoke on past injuries that he has suffered, and considered the timing of the injury to make it worse than it really was:
"“I’ve broken a lot of things, I’ve torn a lot of muscles, I’ve torn a lot of ligaments; because this one happened at such a dramatic time, because it happened to where I couldn’t play the next couple of games, it’s kind of bigger than it was,” Carr explained. “It wasn’t hard for me to take that boot off, and take my first step, if that helps. For me, the mental side is easy to defeat, because it’s me versus me, and that’s going to be a win every time.”"
Like many in Raider Nation, there was a sigh of relief when the diagnosis and recover timeframe of the injury was not as bad as initially expected. Carr touched on that during his press conference:
"“I feel great, truly blessed that it wasn’t worse,” Carr said. “It could have been a lot worse, and it wasn’t, very thankful for that, and I just keep praying for the guys on that day that had the same kind of injury that are still going through it.”"
Carr spoke a little bit about the rehab process, and how he channeled his inner Black Mamba.
"“It felt like a long process, but it flew by,” Carr said. “Each day felt like a long day, but we had fun doing it. We had great trainers and doctors here, my surgeon, my own [doctor] that I have that flies out to help work on me and things like that. I did absolutely everything I could to make sure I come back better, like Kobe [Bryant] said, ‘come back better than ever.’ I wanted to make sure that thing was going to be a non-factor when I started doing things again.”"
But it wasn’t all about Carr. He was asked about Marshawn Lynch, and of course expressed interest in the team bringing him on board.
"“When he was here, I was here talking to him and all those things. He’s one heck of a football player and I hope to play with him and those things, but again, I’m focused on the guys that are here today. I can’t say, ‘Oh man, I hope he gets here and all those things.’ Of course, anyone would want Marshawn Lynch, any quarterback in the NFL.”"
Lastly, Carr talked about his upcoming contract extension, which he says will be done after the draft.
"“You have agents and those types of people to worry about for you. That’s the whole point with us for sure. You can talk about it here and there, the focus really comes down to winning ball games and grinding with your teammates and brothers and making this experience worth a lifetime.”"
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Most of the press conference was standard questions and canned responses, but it still was great to see and hear Carr talk about his injury, among other things. The return of offseason activities is a great sign that football will be back in our lives, at least on a occasional and fairly simple basis.
With the NFL draft 10 days away, there will be plenty to discuss leading up to and following the draft. But then we’ll have a lengthy lull before training camp. But we’ll eventually draw closer to the start of action, and Raiders football will finally be back after what always feels like a long wait.