BALTIMORE -- Let's make one thing perfectly clear -- Derek Carr is not the same explosive quarterback he was in 2016, when he finished tied for third in NFL MVP voting and the Oakland Raiders went 12-4 for their lone winning season since 2002.
That's not a knock on Carr. Not at all.
Rather, his play during his first year under Jon Gruden is actually a side effect, to some degree, of playing for Gruden and his version of the West Coast offense. And that's not even taking into account Carr suffering a broken right ankle, a broken pinkie finger on his passing hand and three broken bones in his back in less than 11 months.