Derek Carr Says Raiders Are ‘Confident’ Coming Out Of The Bye Week

The Las Vegas Raiders got off to a disappointing 1-4 start this season despite coming in with high expectations after the offseason moves made by the franchise. But despite the slow start, quarterback Derek Carr still has plenty of belief in his team.

Much of that has to do with the way the Raiders have lost, as all of their defeats have been by six points or fewer. Quite frankly, the Raiders are a couple of plays away from being 4-1 or even 5-0, but that’s just not how things work in the NFL.

The Raiders’ record is what it is, and there is no getting around it. But coming off the bye week, Carr said that there was a lot of excitement around the team in practice, via Aidan Champion of Raider Maven:

“If I were to say anything, the feeling I had today was excitement,” Carr said after Wednesday’s practice. “Not only myself, but I would say our team at practice. There was a lot of energy, lot of joy, excitement, lot of enthusiasm, real enthusiasm. We know what we’re capable of.

The talent is undoubtedly there offensively as star wide receiver Davante Adams has been as advertised, while running back Josh Jacobs has been outstanding to start the season as well. If they are able to get both Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller healthy at the same time, the offense has the potential to be extremely dynamic.

The team needs to improve defensively, a task made more difficult by the loss of cornerback Nate Hobbs. But Carr also understands that the Raiders have hurt themselves at times too, but believes that this team can correct those issues and is confident in what they can do moving forward:

“We had a big correction time during the bye week to self scout, to look at ourselves, and really just be honest about it,” Carr added. “Some of those things came up today in practice, and we did some of those things well. And so, you would hope that you can be a better team as you keep correcting those things that come up, right?

“We’re never going to be perfect, but we can make corrections, and we can get better. And we believe that — I’ll say we’re confident in what we’re capable of, but it’s not like anyone’s coming to town and handing us wins. You have to go earn everything in this league.”

The Raiders have a stretch of games coming up against beatable opposition, starting off with the Houston Texans this Sunday. As Carr noted, nothing is guaranteed in this league, and the Raiders can’t expect anyone to just roll over for them. But at just 1-4, the Raiders need to go on a serious win streak if they plan on turning things around and making a run toward the playoffs.