- Raiders coach Jon Gruden says Derek Carr is his franchise quarterback but hasn’t stopped evaluating young signal callers, though his team has plenty of other needs in the upcoming draft, most notably on defense.
Former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, who was drafted by Gruden and the Buccaneers, says that’s just standard behavior from Gruden, who famously fawned over college prospects on his “Gruden’s QB Camp” show for ESPN before re-entering the league with the Raiders.
Simms had some advice for Carr, who has to deal with rumors about Gruden’s infatuation with other quarterbacks and has added pressure on his shoulders after the acquisition of wide receiver Antonio Brown and other top-flight free agents.
Here’s what Simms said about Carr’s situation via his podcast, Chirs Simms Unbuttoned.
“[Carr] has to realize that, ‘I have a psycho as a coach when it comes to quarterbacks. And I can’t worry about all this.’ At the end of the day, he’s going to be judged [on] what he does on the field this year. This is a big year for him. You just have to try to block that noise out.
“His job is not to worry about those things and just be the best Derek Carr you can be. Because if Jon Gruden starts to invade your brain too much on a regular basis, it’s going to start showing on the field and [in] everything you need to do to actually impress Jon Gruden.”
Simms added Gruden had as many as seven quarterbacks on the roster during his days with the Buccaneers.
“You go, ‘What’s wrong? I just thew like 40 awesome passes yesterday in practice. Who the [explitive] do you think you can bring in here that’s going to do better than that?'” Simms said.
Carr has been assured by Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock that he’s their franchise quarterback but it also seems Gruden’s wandering eye when it comes to signal-callers can’t be stopped. If Carr can follow Simms’ advice and regain his form from 2016, however, Gruden will only be looking for backups — and if all goes well, Carr’s future successor.
