Training Camp Highlights

There were a lot of developments for the Raiders during the first two weeks of training camp.

Donald Penn’s holdout. Sean Smith’s demotion. Gareon Conley’s lingering injury that prevented him from practicing.

All of it overshadowed more significant storylines that were developing. Specifically, quarterback Derek Carr and changes coming to the offense.

Fully recovered from the broken leg that prematurely ended his 2016 season, Carr looked very sharp during the early workouts and showed no lingering effects whatsoever. In fact, Carr felt so healthy that he and offensive coordinator Todd Downing decided to open the offense up a little.

To that end, Carr has been spending a considerable portion of camp working on his scrambling abilities. An adequate runner during his first three seasons, Carr now wants to make it a key part of his game.

“I want to be able to put stress on people, not only from the pocket,” Carr said. “It makes it easier this year because the game’s slower. Every year the game gets slower. I know where the coverage is, I know what route beats that coverage and as soon as I see it, if it’s not there then I can make something happen with my feet.”

Carr has had some success running in the past but that doesn’t mean that he plans on channeling his inner Cam Newton. What his running and scrambling does do, however, is make the offense more unpredictable. It also buys Carr extra time if the pass protection breaks down.

“I’m never going to do it too much obviously, you guys know that,” Carr said. “But the fact that when those coverages play out that way and I can move out and extend plays… There was one we hit K.J. (Brent) on the back line and that wasn’t intended for him but we were able to escape, escape outside, break contain and then he stayed on the move. It’s something that really puts a lot of stress, because they covered that play really well.”