ALAMEDA — Jon Gruden watched between bites of Thanksgiving dinner. Derek Carr saw as much as he could earlier in the day of former teammate Amari Cooper, and then the show Drew Brees put on against the Atlanta Falcons was mostly background noise.
But make no mistake, when Gruden talks about the standard he has set for Carr, Brees and the way he has performed for the 10-1 Saints is the ceiling.
It was a small step in the right direction for Carr to deliver in a 23-21 win over Arizona, throwing to a seventh-round draft pick in Marcell Ateman who has spent most of the season on the practice squad.