The Oakland Raiders 2016-17 season was considered a success by many, as they went 12-4 and reached to postseason for the first time since 2003.
Inside the Raiders locker room though many view the season as a failure, as they had Super Bowl aspirations and wound up losing their first round playoff matchup to the Houston Texans.
A lot of that can be attributed to the loss of quarterback Derek Carr, who broke his leg in Week 16 forcing him to miss the remainder of the season.
Carr developed into a franchise quarterback in 2016, as he was an MVP candidate for much of the season in leading the Raiders high powered offense, and was named to his second straight Pro Bowl.
The injury cost Oakland a shot at a Super Bowl though, so Carr and the Raiders are going into the 2017 season with a sour taste in their mouths.
Carr recently commented on how he is feeling after rehabbing the injury, and his comments were very optimistic, via Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Derek Carr says he feels great. “I am ready to rock. Truly blessed that (injury) wasn’t worse.” pic.twitter.com/CkEgcFlWNR
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) April 17, 2017
He also commented on his current contract situation, saying that extension talks are ongoing and will heat up after the upcoming draft:
Carr says McKenzie wants to wait until after draft for new contract. His agent and Reggie “have had great communication the whole time.”
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) April 17, 2017
In 15 games in 2016 Carr led the Raiders to a 12-3 record, completing a career-high 63.8 percent of his passes for 3,937 yards and 28 touchdowns while only throwing six interceptions.
He has some new weapons to work with on offense in tight end Jared Cook and wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, which should make the Raiders offense even more dynamic than it was in 2016.