Raiders News: Jon Gruden Believes Derek Carr Is ‘Trying Too Hard’ After 0-3 Start
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Derek Carr has had some struggles so far to begin the 2018 NFL season, much like the entire team. While he is completing over 76 percent of his passes and throwing for over 300 yards per game, he also has just two touchdowns with five interceptions.

While it cannnot solely be put on Carr, most eyes will undoubtedly turn to him as the quarterback. In the end, it always comes back to him and head coach Jon Gruden believes he knows part of the problem.

Gruden spoke on Carr and though he was complimentary of his play, believes Carr may be trying too hard at times, according to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN:

“I think, at times, he’s trying too hard,” Gruden said of Carr in his weekly media conference Monday. “But we’ll talk about that extensively here in the next couple hours. But I thought he played really good under some very tough circumstances.”

Gruden added that he believes Carr needs to work on patience, but is excited about what he has shown so far:

“I think sometimes he needs to learn a little more patience and I think he will. But I’m really excited about the way that he has played and improved and mastered this offense. We’re getting closer. That was a painful turnover. We will address that, and we’ll make the corrections.”

During the 2016 season, Carr looked to be one of the league’s best young stars after he threw 28 touchdowns to just six interceptions in 15 games. Unfortunately, he suffered a broken fibula in Week 16 of that year and has struggled since he returned, throwing only 24 touchdowns to 18 interceptions in 18 games over the last two seasons.

Carr certainly still has plenty of potential and can turn things around. Gruden is great at working with quarterbacks and will do everything possible to help Carr reach his ceiling.

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