football

Carr Will Get a Big Dose of Tough Love

Raiders quarterback better be ready to work even harder in 2018, says former Oakland QB Rich Gannon, now that Gruden is head coach

Now that Jon Gruden officially is the head coach of the Raiders, Derek Carr can start preparing for a bounce-back year in 2018.

That, at least, is the opinion of former Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon.

One of the reasons Mark Davis decided to go all in on Gruden was the idea he can improve Carr’s play. After a great season in 2016, Carr slumped dramatically in 2017.

As Dieter Kurtenbach of the Bay Area News Group wrote, Gruden is “viewed as an offensive guru who could fix what ails Carr.”

Kurtenbach notes, however, that Gruden is noted for the mass amounts of “tough love” he gives quarterbacks. That, too, is what Gannon – who had his best seasons under Gruden – believes.

Gannon recently said in a radio interview on 95.7 The Game that Gruden will demand Carr come in on his day off, stay late and “grind” every week. Gannon said the Raiders will find out “how tough” Carr is and “how hard he’s willing to work” to take his game and the Raiders to a level of excellence.

“He has no idea what’s in store for him, just in terms of the level of preparation, attention to detail,” Gannon said. “He’s going to be as prepared as any quarterback could possibly be to go out and really play championship-caliber football. But he has to do it.”

According to Gannon, Gruden made him the best he possibly could be, and he’ll do that for Carr, too, if Carr is open to it.

“You can’t have thin skin when you work with Jon Gruden,” said Gannon. “He’s not interested in you being good. He wants you to be great.”

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