Raiders QB Carr ‘very similar' to Philip Rivers

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ALAMEDA – Derek Carr isn’t a perfect quarterback, far from the player he’ll become in time. He has made mistakes this season, and will make a few more before the year’s out.

The Raiders’ 2014 second-round pick has been impressive and consistent through five games, making a solid impression to those watching him closely. NFL.com rated him a top quarterback under 25 years old.

Chargers head coach Mike McCoy, who has studied Carr more than a year now, paid the Fresno State alum a huge compliment. He compared Carr to his own quarterback. Philip Rivers ranks among the NFL’s best, a character who clearly loves playing the game and is on pace to set NFL bests for passing yards and attempts in a single season.

The quarterbacks aren’t identical. Not by a long shot. Carr is more mobile. Rivers is more accurate. Both guys can throw deep. Both guys are supremely confident without a hint of arrogance. Both guys love football, from practice to play. And both guys are great leaders.

“(Carr) is a very talented young player that is only getting better with time. I think he can do it all,” McCoy said this week in a conference call. “You love the way he – very similar to Philip – doesn’t hide a lot on the football field. He goes out there, he competes his tail off. He loves to play the game. You love the energy he plays with. He can make every throw, make plays with his feet, avoid pressure when it gets there, and a very talented player.

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“Having known him from when he was younger when I had his brother, David, (as Carolina passing game coordinator in 2007) it doesn’t surprise me at all the way he’s playing at this point in time in his career.”

Rivers and Carr don’t know each other beyond handshakes at the end of last year’s games, but there’s respect between the two. Rivers is established, and Carr is up-and-coming.

“I don’t really know him, but I’ll give you my two cents,” Rivers said. “I felt like even as a rookie he had the demeanor, and I don’t know… He looks like a guy that can get guys to follow him and get guys to go and play. He looked like a guy that I go, ‘He’ll get it going.’ You know what I mean? He looks like a guy that can make a group around him better.”

The Raiders see that every day. That’s why, over the bye week, there wasn’t anything glaring to work on. It’s about refinement, a positive step in itself for a player with 1,171 yards, eight touchdowns, three interceptions and a 93.9 passer rating.

“The more experience he gets, the more lessons you learn,” Raiders offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said. “He’s going to gain a lot of development and strides the more defenses he faces, the more critical situations he’s put into, the more road games, more stadiums he steps in to, the more defenses that are designed to stop him cold. It’s a process. He’s making good progress through that process.”

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