Derek Carr on moving past Antonio Brown: “We’re a family, and this family is pretty special”

[Rusher]

Getty Images

Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders didn’t need Antonio Brown to earn an impressive 24-16 victory over the Denver Broncos on Monday night.

Just two days after the team rid themselves of a talented, but problematic, wide receiver in Brown, Carr made good use of Tyrell Williams and Darren Waller to help spark an Oakland offense that put together a solid opening performance. Carr wasn’t sacked once and rookie running back Josh Jacobs rushed for two touchdowns and gained over 100 yards from scrimmage in his first NFL game.

After the game, Carr was asked by ESPN’s Dianna Russini about how the team put the past few days behind them to be able to beat the Broncos.

“Let’s get the elephant out of the room,” Carr said. “Antonio is no longer with us. We love Antonio. We wish him the best, but we knew with the guys we had in our locker room we already had a good football team. If he wanted to be a part of it, awesome. If he didn’t, awesome. We’re going to come out here and we still have to play a game. We wish him the best. I hope he goes off and has a great year. But the guys in this locker room, the guys that competed during training camp, all offseason, we grinded and came together. We’re a family, and this family is pretty special and I’m glad the quarterback is a part of it.”

Very rarely this offseason did the group of guys practicing include Brown in the first place. Brown was sidelined after a cryotherapy mishap left his feet afflicted with frostbite. He also then refused to practice without his favorite helmet in a saga that took multiple grievances to resolve.

Carr believes the group of targets he has on offense aren’t getting their just due and he’s perfectly fine with opposing defenses continuing to hold that viewpoint moving forward.

“I think they’re pretty good and I think they’re better than every one else thought they were,” Carr said. “That’s what makes me happy. My favorite thing is that I’m going to sit in my locker and watch all those guys celebrate. I hope no one else talks about them. I hope that they think they’re terrible and no one wants to cover them.”