Derek Carr is attempting to change his last season’s image of being a difficult teammate. During a disappointing debut season, his frustrations were evident on the field. He didn’t try to hide his facial expressions and antics on television, and he openly expressed his grievances.
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This season, it seems Carr has taken a different approach, actively striving to be a leader and foster unique bonds with his teammates.
Carr sat down with Kay Adams on an episode of Up& Adams Show, revealing the strategies he has employed to keep building chemistry entering his 2nd year in New Orleans.
The former Raiders quarterback has adopted a “yes-man” approach to everything, instructing his wife to not decline any teammate’s request for his time. In his efforts to be more involved, he has found himself overwhelmed with numerous activities.
He has organized cookouts, game nights, and barbecues as well as going golfing and pickleball.
” I literally told all my teammates this year, I told my wife that if a teammate wants to do something, my answer is yes. We were playing cornhole, I had like 4 teammates over to the house where I cooked them steaks, played video games with each other, and we were golfing.”
What has #Saints QB Derek Carr done to keep building CHEMISTRY with his teammates entering YEAR 2 in New Orleans???
“If a teammate wants to do something, my answer is YES.”@derekcarrqb @Saints @heykayadams #WhoDat pic.twitter.com/vX5MN1ZCNi
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) August 22, 2024
Carr could be seen publicly berating and questioning his receiver Chris Olave on the field last season and was also spotted getting into screaming matches with the coaching staff. But he believes that those are things of the past and his and Olave’s relationship has grown since.
Despite continuous team building, the Saints and Carr carried their patchy form to this preseason, struggling to string a couple of passes together to generate a meaningful drive. But they seemed in better form during the preseason game against the 49ers.
Carr and Saints finally on the right track?
The Saints have struggled to generate free-flowing offense, unable to convert more than one 1st down across two preseason games, moving the ball only 29 yards on 15 plays.
However, things changed for them during the 2nd Quarter of their second preseason game against the 49ers. Starting from their 5-yard line, the Saints moved the ball 95 yards, culminating in a one-yard TD run from Taysom Hill.
While New Orleans under Klint Kubiak, employing a new scheme, ran the ball, Carr played his part starting the drive with 8 8-yard gain and relieving the pressure. He completed 5 out of 6 passes for 41 yards on that drive, ending the match with 7-9 for 47 yards.
The last season may not have gone as he had hoped, but there is still time for him to prove that he is worthy of that 4-year $150 million contract.
New Orleans ends their preseason against the Titans and then has two weeks to prepare for the season opener against the resurgent Panthers.
