Raiders' QB Carr learns to pick his spots

Sep 21, 2017 - 2:02 PM ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is learning he can do more with less.

Carr has thrown 60 passes in two games for the Raiders after his low total for an entire game last season was 30, with only four games with 32 or fewer throws.

Through two games, Carr is completing 75 percent of his passes (45 of 60) and is coming off a 23-for-28 performance against the New York Jets that included at least two deliberate incompletions to avoid losses.

With the Raiders heading on the road to visit the Washington Redskins on Sunday night, Carr is as usual deflecting credit.

"It's the O-line, the wide outs, the running backs picking up blitzes," Carr said. "With the way we pick up blitzes, we can hit go routes for touchdowns. We're able to push the ball deep.

"Without everyone doing their job, I can't do mine. Everyone gives the quarterback the credit because they always touch the ball, but I give all those guys the credit."

Carr professes to not care about stats to the point where he didn't even realize one he should care deeply about. With a win over Washington, Carr would even his record as a starter to 25-25 and become a .500 quarterback for the first time.

It's been a long climb, considering the Raiders lost each of Carr's first 10 starts as a rookie after he was a second-round draft pick out of Fresno State. The Raiders were 3-13 in Carr's first season and 7-9 in Year 2.

Fast forward to last season and this season, where Carr has won 14 of his last 17 starts.

"I didn't know that, so that could tell you how much it means," Carr said of the possibility of .500. "Obviously you want more wins than losses. But that's funny, I didn't even know that. That's awesome."

Carr said he did his best to remain optimistic in the face of the bad start.

"I just knew at some point it has to change, because when you do things the right way, it's got to change eventually," Carr said. "Every game, I went out there and thought, `Yeah, this is the one. We're going to win.' And it didn't work out that way.

"But I knew we were building something special and knew eventually it was going to turn around."

SERIES HISTORY: 13th regular-season meeting. Raiders lead series, 7-5. The Redskins won last meeting 24-14 on Sept. 29, 2013, in Oakland. The Raiders took a 14-0 lead on a blocked punt recovered in the end zone and a touchdown pass by Matt Flynn. Washington won going away, closing the score to 14-10 on a 45-yard interception return by David Amerson, who in 2015 would be placed on waivers and claimed by the Raiders. In last game at FedEx Field, the Raiders won 16-13 on Nov. 20, 2005, giving the game ball to coach and former Washington coach Norv Turner. The Raiders then lost their last six games of the season and Turner was fired. The Raiders and Redskins played in the Super Bowl on Jan. 22, 1984, with the Raiders winning 38-9 in Tampa.

--Cornerback David Amerson was the highest draft pick to be waived the Redskins two years after being a second-round draft pick by Washington.

Amerson, who struggled mightily with the Redskins, was an instant standout with the Raiders and received a four-year contract extension worth as much as $38 million and nearly $18 million in guarantees.

So Amerson saw no need to circle the game on his calendar. Everything worked out in the end.

"There's no animosity between me and Washington," Amerson said. "It's not as much as a personal game as people might think."

Washington coach Jay Gruden said he's happy that things turned out well for Amerson.

"I got here and liked David a lot," Gruden said. "We just ran into some things and we thought it was time for a change for him. I think it was a wakeup call for him. It's been a great change of scenery for him. I'm glad he's doing well because I think David's a great kid."

--While subpar offensive line play has been an issue throughout the league, the Raiders have gone two games without a holding penalty, closed out games on the ground in the fourth quarter and Carr has been sacked only twice.

It's not a big surprise, given that general manager Reggie McKenzie doled out what could be a maximum of more than $159 million for contracts to left tackle Donald Penn, left tackle Kelechi Osemele, right guard Gabe Jackson and right tackle Marshall Newhouse.

"We know we have a good group," Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. "They've been working hard. They're well coached. (Offensive line coach) Mike Tice does a great job with the group. But believe me, there are some things we have to clean up. There are things that have to be corrected and will be corrected."

Hudson has been particularly stout, including key blocks on a 43-yard touchdown run by Cordarrelle Patterson and a 52-yard scoring run by Jalen Richard.

"It starts with us," Hudson said. "We have to block people to make things happen."

--Safety Karl Joseph graded out as one of the top defensive players of the week on Profootballfocus, and the Raiders' first-round pick in 2015 had made a quantum leap in level of play in his second season.

Joseph showed up as a blitzer, against the Jets, including one play where he had a sack of Josh McCown, forced a fumble and then recovered it.

"He's a guy we selected because we thought he could be a guy that could come in and impact our defense," Del Rio said. "Obviously he's an aggressive guy, he likes to come, likes to be brought. We'll pick our spots with him but it was good to see a nice productive game last week."

NOTES: CB Sean Smith (neck) was a full participant in practice after missing the Jets game in Week 2. ... TE Jared Cook was a limited participant in practice with a shoulder injury sustained in the Jets game. ... CB Gareon Conley was limited in practice by a shin injury after having two full practices last week and playing 46 snaps in his debut against the Jets. ... S Keith McGill (foot) was a full participant in practice but has yet to be active this season. ... FB Jamize Olawale was a full participant with a quad injury and hasn't played in a game since Aug. 19, the third preseason game in Dallas. ... RB DeAndre Washington was limited in practice because of a hamstring injury.