After a bitter defeat and a winnable home game, the Oakland Raiders appeared to have much to say. As a result, the team delivered interesting quotes.
On Sunday, Dolphins DE William Hayes fell away from Derek Carr to avoid a bodyweight penalty.
Carr “I wish the guy would have just landed on me instead of tearing his ACL, For him to tear his ACL, nobody wants that. I don’t want that.”
Thought: Normally, you could question the sincerity and throw the random eye roll in. In Carr, he appears honest and forthright. With that said the rule continues to hurt teams and could ultimately affect the playoffs.
During the Dolphins’ game, Carr thought he found Cooper with a step. Instead, Cooper stopped his route, allowing Xavien Howard to pick off the pass
“He never saw the ball, so he stopped. I can’t get mad at him for that. I promise you, he wishes he had that one back. That would have been fun.”
Thought: Amari Cooper flat stopped on his route. Without anything but tape, you can see this. Granted, Derek Carr will always cover for a teammate, Cooper caused this turnover. At worst, he would prevent a clear shot at the pick. At what point do the Raiders look at the entirety of Amari Cooper’s career and cut bait. While talented, Cooper cannot string together consecutive games. Whether it is Carr or the offense, the Raiders need to start looking long and critically at Cooper. Whether he remains in the future plans, looks up in the air.
Jon Gruden, comparing Baker Mayfield to Jeff Garcia (courtesy NBC sports
“But, when nobody’s open and he has to move around, he has a lot of Jeff Garcia in him. He’ll dive for first downs. He’ll extend plays. He has a really good competitive spirit about him. I love the way he plays. I know he’ll be very excited for his first career start. We have to do a great job giving him some looks and put pressure on him with the pass rush.”
Thought: First, Jeff Garcia possessed far more mobility than Mayfield. Although his frame could remind Gruden of Garcia, that is where the similarities end. Mayfield owns a much stronger arm. As a result, the Browns can gear their offense vertically to pressure secondaries. In addition, the Raiders will need to birddog the Browns’ wideouts. Any slip in coverage and that will end up in six.
