Silver Minings: Jon Gruden backs Derek Carr - again

Las Vegas Raiders’ coach Jon Gruden has kept an extremely low profile this offseason. He has had general manager Mike Mayock do all the public speaking on behalf of the team’s front office.

However, Gruden recently broke his silence by doing an interview with former Raiders’ defensive back Eric Allen on the team’s in-house show, Raiders Report.

It was good to hear from Gruden, although he didn’t offer any earth-shattering news. The highlight of the short talk with Allen was Gruden’s praise of quarterback Derek Carr. Here is what the coach said about his quarterback:

“Derek is very underestimated,” Gruden told Allen. “He doesn’t get much credit for how good he’s playing, but he completes a lot of passes. He changes plays at the line of scrimmage. He’s starting to make more and more plays with his legs now.”

Gruden is often complimentary of Carr, but these comments are a reminder that he backs his starter even as the quarterback speculation continues to flurry.

In the interview with Allen, Gruden also discussed the running back rotation, what to do expect from the secondary, new addition Casey Hayward’s expected impact, and the change on the defensive front,

In other Raiders links:

• Koonce time: The Athletic offers a profile on Raiders’ third-round pick Malcolm Koonce.
• Offensively speaking; The Las Vegas Review-Journal looks at the tinkering the Raiders did on offense this offseason.
• This is impressive: Raiders’ defensive tackle Kendal Vickers is strong.