Quarterback Derek Carr back for Raiders minicamp

ALAMEDA - Ever since he was big enough to throw a football, Derek Carr has done just that any chance he could get.

So when an injury to the ring finger on his throwing hand prevented him from doing just that for more than a month, the frustration level grew for Carr even if he knew that the time off was what was best for him and the Oakland Raiders.

Carr was a full participant in practice for the first time since April when he stepped back in as Oakland’s starting quarterback Tuesday for the first practice of a three-day mandatory minicamp.

“I just had to go through the necessary process of what everyone believed we should do and I just trusted in our team and knew that what my teammates were telling me, ‘We’re not going to win games right now. Just relax,’? ” Carr said. “It was so minor that it got blown up so much.”

That’s to be expected when a starting quarterback misses time, even when it’s months before the start of the season. Carr said he had been healed for a bit and was glad to get back on the field with his teammates.

He said there were some signs of rust in terms of where to place the ball or being in rhythm with his receivers, but he was pleased with the overall performance.

“That happens when you haven’t thrown for probably like 30, 40 days now. That’s going to happen,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do about it but the good thing was to get back in the huddle and be that guy in the huddle, be that guy, be that leader. So they can hear your voice, and it started to get better as practice went on.”

Carr said he had no limitations although most of his passes did appear to either be short or touch throws, rather than fully cutting it loose. But considering that it’s only June, the Raiders have no concerns about the injury.

“I think it’s a non-issue,” coach Jack Del Rio said. “I haven’t talked about it a lot to this point and I’m not going to start now.”

Carr had good and bad moments during a three-win season for Oakland. He became the seventh rookie quarterback to throw for at least 3,000 yards and 20 touchdown passes in a season and looked comfortable in the pocket.

He also struggled at times against the blitz and was unable to get the ball downfield consistently, in part because of the lack of a game-breaking receiver. His 5.46 yards per attempt were the lowest in the NFL.

Even though he has not been practicing, Carr hasn’t exactly had time off. He is one of the first players to arrive each day and one of the last to leave as he spends time learning new coordinator Bill Musgrave’s offense.

“He’s been very diligent, really taking pride in his work and his preparation and the way he wants to be,” Del Rio said. “He wants to be in charge. In order to be in charge, you have to really know what you’re doing and what everybody does around you. I think he’s done a great job of working at it and trying to process in his head exactly what it’s going to be like. That’s important.”

This also marked Carr’s first opportunity to practice with rookie receiver Amari Cooper. Carr had been out ever since the Raiders picked Cooper fourth overall in April in hopes of creating a needed big-play tandem with the quarterback.

Carr said he was impressed with how quickly Cooper was able to get out of breaks.

“There was one ball I put on this side of his facemask instead of the front and led him. It would have been a big play,” Carr said. “That’s just the stuff of getting our timing down.

“It made me see that, wow, he can really get in there. I can just let it go.”

NOTES

LB Sio Moore is ahead of schedule as he recovers from offseason hip surgery and was able to participate in some team drills.

Three Special Olympics athletes watched the end of practice, toured the facility and ate lunch with the team ahead of the World Games in Los Angeles later this summer.