Derek Carr Post-Game Interview After Win Over Chiefs
Derek Carr speaks about the offensive success and much more after Sunday's win over the Chiefs.
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00:00 -And last question.
00:04 -Nobody? -How'd that first drive feel? -It felt good.
00:08 It felt efficient. It was nice to get a couple situations in there and get third down.
00:12 Get some red zone and all that stuff.
00:16 Again, they don't tell us how much we're gonna play and all that. To get a couple
00:20 situations in there and then throughout the game to talk through things
00:24 with Pete and certain situations and things like that in a game time scenario.
00:28 It was good. It was a lot of fun. Love being on this side of things.
00:32 In the dome. I can get used to this place. It was a lot of fun.
00:36 -About half the starting quarterbacks in the league haven't played in these openings.
00:40 Why did you like it? And obviously to have it go as well as it did, how much does that validate
00:44 the play? -When I woke up this morning everything was new to me. Where's pregame meal?
00:48 I followed Eric McCoy in. I was like I don't know where to go to park.
00:52 As soon as I got in here
00:56 Reg was showing me everything, like everything there is in the locker room. I was like alright, where's the
01:00 shower? Where's the snacks? All that stuff.
01:04 Everything was new. For me to get out there more importantly and play football
01:08 in the stadium this time when it wasn't allowed and we can
01:12 operate and do those kind of things, it was important to me to do that no matter how old I am
01:16 and how many years I've played in the NFL. To do it with a new group, all new receivers,
01:20 and for everyone to be in there and playing
01:24 is a mark of this team that any chance we can get to go out there and coach will let us.
01:28 We just want to compete and play. -I know when we ask about wide
01:32 receivers we often ask about Michael Thomas. He's a lot of aides. Where do you see him from Keith Kirkwood
01:36 over the course of the off? -Keith Kirkwood was someone
01:41 we had three lifting groups and we would always lift at that 630 group.
01:45 At 6 AM I'd be like whoever wants to meet me there, I'll be there
01:49 at 6 AM to throw these new routes and these kind of things. Keith was there
01:53 every single time. After practice I always run
01:57 extra. Keith, as you guys see, he's always right there next to me running extra with me.
02:01 If we don't see each other we make sure that we check in, did you do it? All that
02:05 kind of stuff. I think that it's his hard work and his
02:09 determination. He's a veteran player. He understands what it takes.
02:13 I'm just really proud of him to be able to get a touchdown
02:17 and I know it's a preseason game but they still all feel good.
02:21 -Darren, what are some things you think you could have done better today? -We had
02:25 a false start and I'll look at that and I always
02:29 put false starts on myself. Was there something in the communication process that I didn't do right?
02:33 Everyone wants to look at the jersey number that they put it on.
02:37 I have a lot to do with that too so I gotta look at that.
02:41 I'll always try and put those on me. I'm always trying to
02:45 deflect from those guys as much as I can because again if there's a way that I
02:49 can help us be better that's all I'm looking to do.
02:53 I'll check in with those guys especially after we watch it.
02:57 Especially with what kind of play it was and what we were trying to do. Is there something there that I could have done better to help them out?
03:01 -Darren, can you tell how well the starting
03:05 offensive line is gelling together in a training camp setting
03:09 where there's no momentum and they're not even going to pass any time? Did this match
03:13 how you felt those five guys were feeling? -When
03:17 we have those five guys out there in practice all together
03:22 sometimes some guys are limited and things like that. When they're all five out
03:26 there it's like wow. This is pretty impressive.
03:30 That's the first thing I told them when we came off the field. I was like
03:34 I got to go through reads and make decisions and play quarterback. I appreciate it fellas.
03:38 Those guys, man they did a great job on that. It's one
03:42 drive but it's okay to get excited about it. It's professional football.
03:46 I think those guys are really good players. We'll watch the film
03:50 and there's going to be things that they'll want to fix and that I'll want to fix. Just playing the game
03:54 and being able to see things and all that I thought they did a great job.
03:58 -We had talked to you. I think the question was about how we compare
04:02 a way that we all see the defense. Sometimes I'm going to throw the run backs.
04:06 Sometimes I'm going to throw the run backs. All in one drive. Is that what this offense
04:10 proposes to be I guess? -Hopefully
04:14 those guys just continue to understand one guy may have
04:18 ten catches on a game and you may have two. That may happen for two weeks and then boom
04:22 you're going to have 12. We have to be able to play that way and play
04:26 selflessly. I believe that we have a group that will
04:30 do that because boom everybody's catching the ball.
04:34 First play's for Chris. Then we go to AK. Then we find
04:38 Juwan. Then we find Mike. Everyone's touching it and then all of a sudden Keith gets a touchdown.
04:42 Everyone did the cardio and Keith got the reward.
04:46 Hopefully our guys understand that that's just how
04:50 we're going to have to play if we want to do the things that we want to do.
04:54 If we can do that and spread it out evenly...
04:58 -Still breaking? Ah! It's working
05:02 now. -We're just working. We're working through some
05:07 stuff. -How excited or anxious were you as you woke up this morning
05:11 or if you're right? -I was very excited. No anxiety.
05:15 I've been doing this
05:19 like a decade. When I look in the mirror sometimes and I see the gray hairs
05:23 it does feel like a decade. It doesn't feel like it goes so fast but the nerves
05:27 you're not nervous anymore. You just want to go out there and execute and play at a high level.
05:31 I was really excited. I'll tell you what. I was
05:35 really excited when we turned left right here and started coming down and the lights were off. They started
05:39 playing a little music. I was like oh yeah now it's time. That got
05:43 the juices flowing. I try my best. I am an emotional
05:47 excited person. I try my best to stay like this so I don't throw the first one
05:51 into the stands. It's hard not getting excited coming out
05:55 to that intro. -Completions to Jawan Johnson. There was one
05:59 in there where it looked like you had to handle a little bit of pressure and then identify where you go
06:03 with the ball. Did you see your first live snaps?
06:07 Did you have a time in any particular way? -I was happy because usually
06:11 some teams won't blitz in the preseason or if they do it's just someone off the
06:15 slot. It's just easy stuff. They walked up in there double A's
06:19 double mugs another time. They gave us different looks all game.
06:23 For my drive it was nice to get someone blitzing the egg yolk. I was fired up.
06:27 Now I get to move and work on my stuff in a live scenario.
06:31 It was a great pickup. It was satisfying because
06:35 those are the realest reps it gets. They can hit me out there.
06:39 For our guys to be able to, with that in their mind, do their jobs and
06:43 execute. Most of the time you can do the physical part but the mental
06:48 side to make the right point and make the right calls and pick them up and do all that.
06:52 Everyone did their assignments. Everyone gets excited about the
06:56 skill players and the points but it doesn't happen until we do that part right first. I was
07:00 really proud of that. -Jakes happened today.
07:04 -Haner? I was proud of him. When he came off after the
07:08 interception I said, "You know who else threw a pick in their first preseason game?" He started laughing.
07:12 I was like, "Just keep cutting it loose man. It's a long half.
07:16 We're going to win this thing." I didn't know we would win it the way that we did
07:20 but I was really proud of him. He's going to be a good player for a long time
07:24 because he works really hard and he cares. He's good.
07:28 I was really proud of him. The more reps he gets he'll just keep getting better.
07:32 -What was it like with your wife and kids this morning? Just kind of waking up
07:36 and the two of them. A new arena for them.
07:40 -I haven't gotten to talk to them too much just a little bit before I walked in here but
07:44 it was for them putting on
07:48 black and gold for the first time. It was probably
07:52 a little weird because when I put that uniform on and I went in the mirror to
07:56 fit I was like, Jake walked up. He's like, "That looks weird." He said, "I know bro.
08:00 I've been in the same place for nine years." It may look weird but
08:04 it felt right. I told DA that earlier this week. I just
08:08 feel refreshed. I feel rejuvenated. To put that uniform
08:12 on and come out and be a Saint. It felt really good.
08:16 I know my wife was excited about today.
08:20 My little girl, she don't care. She was yelling touchdown Raiders
08:24 the other day. I was like, "You got to fix that."
08:29 These boys, they were so fired up. I got to see them before the game. It was really cool for me.
08:33 They were on the field. Those are memories that we'll have forever.
08:37 I'm sure that they're gonna know more about this game than I will.
08:41 -Man, did you see AT's catch on... -They'll know all those things.
08:45 I'm sure when I see them they'll be real excited.
08:49 -Derek, speaking of AT, how big is this for
08:53 confidence going through Gamda to haul in a big play like that? -I think it's good for
08:57 confidence. It's the National Football League.
09:01 It's not easy out there. It's one thing to
09:05 watch it from one point of view. When you're in it, in full speed game, live
09:09 reps where they can hit you and all those kind of stuff, you got to read it right and make the right decisions.
09:13 For him to go out there and play the way he did, I was so proud of him. But for all the
09:17 young guys, I thought that they... Whether they started slow
09:21 or started fast, I thought everyone just settled in and just started playing football.
09:25 That's what preseason's for. For everyone to just get... Knock the rust off,
09:29 all those things, things you've been working on in camp, doing it in the live game,
09:33 and for them to see, oh, man, that does work. Or, man,
09:37 what coach was telling me was right.
09:41 A lot of that was happening today. But I was really proud of him. He was
09:45 featured today. He was getting the ball a lot, so it was good.
09:49 -Derek, what does a win like this do for everybody? It's been hot and humid
09:53 obviously. Down the stretch, you have young players
09:57 chipped in, and you got to win the way that you did. -Throughout the
10:01 season, it's going to take everybody in the building to win.
10:06 If we're all pushing in the same direction, we'll be able to do it.
10:10 For the young guys to get in there, the camaraderie,
10:14 the confidence that they'll have now. The young guys,
10:18 the third group went in there and they got the ball back for each other. They went down and scored
10:22 the first goal. That does for their confidence is unbelievable. That only helps
10:26 our whole team be better. I think, especially
10:30 the way that we won, I think it's only a good thing.
10:34 Like DA said, whether it's regular season or preseason, we don't care. If we're
10:38 strapping it on, you're going out there. You're not going out there to try and lose and be okay with it.
10:42 We're going out there to win. We were happy we were able to do that. -Derek, you talked to
10:46 Julia against Variety in practice. Did he give you any advice about today?
10:50 -No. We laughed about a couple things.
10:54 Maybe our defense may know our plays and things
10:58 at practice and all that kind of stuff. We didn't talk
11:02 about this. I've been
11:06 playing for a while. If I was a young guy, there's certain questions I
11:10 ask him and I asked him beforehand and all that kind of stuff. There's certain
11:14 things now that he's not like, "Are you okay? Are you ready to go for the first?" He doesn't have
11:18 to do that kind of thing. We were able to talk about just how
11:22 big of an impact the things that he said to me ended up
11:26 being here. I told him everything that he said to me, they've proven it.
11:30 What you said is what they're doing.
11:34 I think just from that relational standpoint took us to
11:38 another level because everything he said was true and
11:42 they've proven it. Mickey and everybody's proved it so far. -Could you hear the crowd when they introduced you
11:47 to the players? -Yeah, that was cool. They were loud. That was awesome.
11:51 I think there's some Chief fans yelling at me too.
11:55 -One more for Derrick. Were you willing to follow Derrick McCoy
11:59 all the way in there or just in the building? -Oh yeah.
12:03 From the hotel he waited for me. I'm not going to
12:07 say the street's name because I'm screwed up. He was down there and I pulled out and I waved to him. He's like,
12:11 "All right, come on." I followed him all the way to my parking spot.
12:15 It's our first time for everybody. -Drew Brees got
12:19 lost and was almost late his first game here. -They did tell me that story
12:23 and that's why I specifically made sure I had someone to follow.
12:27 Who better than your center? That's good. Thanks guys.