The Oakland Raiders knew they had to improve the offensive talent around second-year quarterback Derek Carr if they wanted to aid him in his development. That's why the team's offense this year is dotted with new names like free agents Michael Crabtree and Roy Helu and rookies Clive Walford and Amari Cooper.
Cooper has been stealing all of the headlines since being drafted fourth overall and deservedly so. He's been favorably compared to last year's No. 4 overall pick Sammy Watkins and has impressed the Raiders with his route running ability. He and Carr have been working hard to develop chemistry, though Sunday night's home preseason loss to the Arizona Cardinals indicated there is still room for improvement.
"So close, man," Carr said via ESPN of Sunday's so-so performance in which he targeted Cooper nine times and completed four passes for 62 yards. "There are just too many things we were that far off. Me and Amari spent some time together yesterday out on the field, got some things cleaned up. There were a lot of good things. We were very explosive. That is something that you want to see in the preseason. That's something you want to see you can go, just base things. So we have a very explosive group. The timing on certain things was just off, again, by a little bit. We spent a lot of time today and yesterday getting that down. That's all you can do, is take more reps at it."
Carr was thankful that the offense's struggles came in the preseason, leaving him and Cooper enough time to work out the kinks.
"When you hit the regular season, they wipe the slate clean," Carr said. "That's when they count. Not saying that these don't, but the win-loss record is erased. You want to build. It's good to have lessons learned now. We talked about it all the time, you want to learn lessons now and learn what you can and can't get away with. That way when you hit the regular season, you hit the ground running."
With all the extra work Carr and Cooper are putting in, Raiders fans can hope for a quick start to the season.
