It’s still the honeymoon period for Jon Gruden and Derek Carr, but the Raiders head coach and quarterback are off to a great start.
Not surprisingly, the element of Carr’s game that Gruden has been most impressed with seems to be the mental aspect of Carr’s game.
Former Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon was at the Raiders three-day minicamp this week and spoke glowingly of what he saw from Carr.
“I think they’ve really jelled,” Gannon told Jerry McDonald of The Mercury News.
“I get the sense that it’s a really good fit. Derek has completely bought in. It’s impressive to sit in the meetings, being around Derek and seeing his aptitude and how quickly he’s gotten a real good feel for things…”
“You look at his huddle command,” Gannon continued, “and when Jon asks questions he’s spitting out the information so quickly. Derek’s really going to benefit from that relationship… Jon’s intense and you have to be able to match his intensity. I think Derek is really a smart guy, he’s bought in, he loves it, he loves football, he can’t get enough.”
Gannon then drove the Carr hype train through his social media account…
Really impressed w Derek Carr’s buy in and commitment to learning a new system. His aptitude and recall is special this early in the process. He and Coach Gruden are off to a terrific start!
— Rich Gannon (@RichGannon12) June 15, 2018
Going back to early January when the Gruden to Oakland story was still at “Grumor” status, Gannon talked about what it would be like for Carr if Gruden took the job.
“I’m really excited for him,” Gannon told 95.7 The Game of Carr (back when they still covered the Raiders). “I hope he’ll take advantage of the opportunity and embrace it. That’s the thing, you can be a great coach but if you have a player that doesn’t buy in – and I’m not suggesting that Derek won’t – I’m just saying it’s really important.”
“Derek is gonna have to work even harder because Jon’s got an unbelievable work ethic and a passion and energy that are second to none. I always felt the pressure when I was there to – I don’t wanna say match the hours that he put in – but certainly to match the intensity, the passion and the preparation.”
Based on his most recent comments, Gannon doesn’t seem to have any doubts about how things are going to work out between Gruden and Carr.
Gannon credited Gruden with resurrecting his career in the late 90’s and Gruden has eluded to the fact that he’s never coached a quarterback with the talent possessed by Carr.
Connecting a few dots behind that logic and it sure feels like Carr’s ceiling with Gruden is going to be the roof.
Speaking of which, we’re all in agreement around here that Jordan’s still the greatest right?
twitter: @raidersbeat
I really think Gruden WILL bring out the best in Carr, he was held back by the previous coaching staff, all those runs up the middle were brutal to watch, I understand you have to pound the rock up the middle but on 3rd & 4-5-6 is not good coaching when you have a laser arm in Carr, so i pretty much agree with Gannon that Carr will have an outstanding year & only get better in years to come with Gruden,