Derek Carr’s brother David says Antonio Brown has been ‘drain’ on Raiders team, would be ‘relief’ not to have him for Monday night opener

Throughout the Antonio Brown saga, Derek Carr’s brother and NFL Network analyst David has acted as an unofficial conduit for Derek’s mindset and that of the Raiders. Lately he’s had quite a bit to say with regard to the Antonio Brown saga, which has been a daily headache for the team and everyone involved.

The bombshell this morning was Antonio Brown asking for his release following his contract guarantees being voided for conduct detrimental to the team. This comes a day after AB had apologized for his outburst in practice and Jon Gruden said he plans to play Brown in the Monday Night opener against Denver.

With the news fresh and swirling, David called into NFL Network’s Good Morning Football and he had some interesting things to say about the situation with Brown and the mindset of the Raiders and his brother Derek.

“There’s a relief, honestly, that he might not be there,” David Carr said of the team feeling about not having Antonio Brown for the Monday Night season opener. “Because quite honestly it’s been better practices when he’s not there. When AB’s not been around the building, there’s been a lack of just complete insanity that has actually been pretty comforting. . . they have 52 guys that are getting ready to go out there and make something happen and unfortunately it’s just one guy that’s kind of holding them all back.”

David went on to talk about “how much of a drain [Antonio Brown] has been on this football team.” Whether it be his presence (which hasn’t been much) or the constant questions of when and if Brown will show up.

You can sense the frustration from Gruden, who has been very un-Gruden-like in how reserved he has been with his words regarding Brown missing time. But you can hear it in moments, if you’re listening. Such as the other day in his press conference.

“We’ve been going out to practice every day and we’ve adjusted without him,” said Gruden. ”We never knew sometimes when he was going to practice, so we are good at it. We are good at adapting and adjusting, unfortunately. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed and I’m just going to say to you that I’m really excited about the guys that we do have, and we’ll do the best we can.”

No one was closer to Antonio Brown than Derek Carr. Playing with the Raiders youg QB was supposedly the main reason Brown was so excited to come to Oakland. They were like instant besties and spent a good deal of time in the offseason working out together. And according to David, even Derek has been unable to get AB on the phone.

The whole thing has come to a hilt. Either Antonio Brown will show up and play, or he won’t. The Raiders are trying to find the good in either scenario. Neither is the ideal or the best case scenario, Antonio Brown has ensured that.