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The always outspoken, pull-no-punches Charles Woodson was his usual self following the Raiders' 30-14 loss to the Texans last Sunday. He made some headlines when he made the flat statement of the Raiders "We suck". He went on to say much more, including that he was embarrassed for the team and the fans.
Wendesday Derek Carr had his chance to weigh in on Woodson's statements, and he offered no disagreement to Woodson's blunt criticisms.
"I understand what he's saying," said Carr. "Obviously we didn't play at the level to which we want to play at and that we can play at. I probably wouldn't word it that way, but he's allowed to say things like that because he's gonna be a first ballot Hall of Famer. He can say whatever he wants, in my opinion. We do need to get better, obviously. There's a lot of things we need to do better and I'm with him.
"We needed to play better in that game and we can play better. We hurt ourselves. That's when it hurts. When you do things - I can only speak for the offense - when we do things where we're moving the ball and then we hurt ourselves, that hurts. Because we see that it's working, we see it moving down the field and then bam, something happens. And that's where it's hard. But that's why you practice, that's why we continue to work even when it's hard, even when times are hard you just keep your head down and you work. So, that's what we're gonna do."
It's refreshing in today's NFL to hear a player show the kind of outward passion and frustration that Woodson showed in that interview. And in a game which features four turnovers, 212 yards rushing given up, two touchdowns on the first two possessions, and not a single sack on the opposing quarterback, Woodson is simply conveying the level of frustration the entire team is feeling.
And as Carr mentioned, the future Hall of Famer has earned the right to say it.
"I think that's something that is spoken out of frustration," Allen said on Monday. "When you watch Charles Woodson play in that game and the effort that he gave in that game and the passion in which he played in that game, it's a tough pill to swallow. When you go out there and don't perform like you're capable of performing. He gave everything he had in that game and we have to get more guys playing like that."
This team doesn't need eloquence right now. After getting dominated in their first two games of the season, they need to get angry.
Carr said he and several veterans as well as young players have spoken to the team since that debacle on Sunday and he has seen it show up on the practice field. Another thing Charles Woodson said was that it doesn't matter what they do in practice because it hasn't shown up on the field.
The next chance they have to put it on the field will be one of the toughest fields in all of football - Gillette Stadium in Foxboro to play the Patriots.
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