Derek Carr hasn’t had a lot of success in the NFL. In fact, he’s done a lot of losing.
That’s why it was surprising this week to see Carr say that he’s “tired of being disrespected.”
Former Raiders All-Pro and current team color analyst Lincoln Kennedy has some advice for Carr. Advice that Carr may not want to hear, but perhaps needs to hear.
“I would tell him if you’re tired of being disrespected, play better,” Kennedy said on The Zach Gelb Show. “It’s that simple. There’s no more excuses for Derek. Now it’s either put up or shut up. He’s got all the weapons in front of him. He’s got an offensive line, he’s got a run game, he’s got a receiving corps. There’s really nothing else that he [needs] with this offense. So now it’s time to put up or shut up.”
Carr was having an MVP-caliber season in 2016, throwing for a career-high 32 touchdowns. Then he broke his leg.
Since then, Carr is 17-30 as the Raiders’ starter and has never started a playoff game.
Why? Is there not enough talent around him?
“I think he had that in his mind, that the talent wasn’t there for him – when in actuality it was; he just didn’t use it as well as he could,” Kennedy said. “Jon Gruden’s offense gives every quarterback an option, somewhere to go with the football. Gruden knew that Derek Carr, after he broke that ankle, was not the same person. Of course the year after that, he took a lot of sacks. [Gruden] wanted to clean it up, and he wanted his quarterback to stand upright. So he empowered him with the ability to use check-downs or throw the ball away, just preserve himself for the next down.
“Well, Derek kind of took that to heart in many ways,” Kennedy continued, “and [it became] a disadvantage for the team because they weren’t able to get points out of it. But I think this year is put up or shut up. You have no more excuses.”
The Raiders signed former No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota in March. How short is Carr’s leash this season?
“I don’t think it’s very short,” Kennedy said. “I think this is still Derek Carr’s team because Gruden knows he’s a quarterback who’s capable of making all the throws on the football field. He just has to make better decisions. Now that you’ve surrounded him with weapons, there’s really no reason why he can’t excel.”