With some lessons learned, Raiders enter offseason weighing new needs
INDIANAPOLIS — There was one big lesson Jack Del Rio learned from the disappointing way the Oakland Raiders’ 2016 season ended.
“Don’t lose your quarterback,” the Raiders coach said Thursday at the NFL scouting combine. “You don’t want that to happen.”
Del Rio laughed as he said it and proceeded to expand on how Derek Carr's broken leg, suffered on Dec. 24, affected the team. Oakland lost control of the AFC West the following week and then fell to the Houston Texans in the wild-card round with rookie Connor Cook at quarterback.
Del Rio said the main takeaways from those January losses was that, when playing without your starting quarterback — and especially without one who had been playing as well as Carr had — the rest of the team must be better. But the Raiders weren’t.
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“If you lose your quarterback, to me, there's still a way to get it done — it just became a lot harder. But there's still a way. There was no concession, and there never will be. Honestly, when we finished the year, I was disappointed. In my opinion, what we need to be about is, 'Hey, let's rally. Let's find a way and get it done no matter what.' And we weren't able to do that” Del Rio said.
“That will be part of what we'll do this year is attack that going in and understand, 'Hey, there is not any one person that is more important than the team — we want all our studs. But if somebody is missing, we have to fill in.' We have to run the ball better, we have to play better defense. We have to do certain things to help offset, in that particular case, the quarterback.”
Carr had surgery to repair the broken fibula three days after being injured, and Del Rio said his recovery is going well and points to a full return no later than training camp.
“He's in good spirits. Everything that I've seen and heard is on track or even ahead of schedule,” Del Rio said. “We expect a complete recovery and no issues.”
But there are other issues the Raiders face, including a potential need for a new starting running back, assessing upgrades for the defense — and hoping for stability with the franchise's future in Oakland up in the air.
Last season's No. 1 running back, Latavius Murray, who joined Carr and receiver Amari Cooper as the young core of the Raiders’ offensive resurgence, is an impending free agent. Del Rio said he didn’t want to “close the door” on the chance that Murray re-signs. But if he were to depart, that would leave the Raiders with two young backs, Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington. Their inexperience, along with the team's $42 million-plus in salary cap space, would potentially put the Raiders in the market for another starting-caliber back, perhaps even Adrian Peterson. Landing a premier free agent like Peterson would have been wishful thinking for the Raiders in previous years. But now that Oakland is a playoff contender, recruitment should be easier.
“We have turned this thing around now, and we need to recognize that we're just getting started. We have so much work to do,” said Del Rio, who recently received a new four-year contract from owner Mark Davis after just two seasons in Oakland.
Del Rio said he appreciated Davis' willingness to renegotiate so soon given the contract he signed when hired in 2015 was below market value.
“I bet on me with that contract,” Del Rio said.
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Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones
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