Carr, McDaniels’ weekly call key in building relationship

Every Tuesday night, almost on the dot, Derek Carr’s phone starts buzzing. In what has now become a weekly ritual, he no longer has to check to see who is calling. Carr already knows it’s Raiders coach Josh McDaniels.

“He has a set time,” Carr said.

To be specific, the call arrives shortly after McDaniels and his coaching staff wrap up their week game-planning meeting for that week’s opponent. “As soon as they’re done, he’ll call me.” Carr said.

A familiar pattern is already emerging. First, McDaniels will ask Carr if the kids have been put to bed. If they haven’t, he’ll wait on Carr’s call back once they’ve been tucked away.

At which time, the coach and quarterback will begin a lengthy conversation that covers just about everything related to the Raiders. With a heavy emphasis, of course, on what the upcoming week will look like. In this case, preparations for the Cardinals, the Raiders’ opponent in their home opener Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.

“We’re on the phone, getting ready for today,” Carr said.

It is early in the relationship between Carr and McDaniels. But already the veteran quarterback is understanding the benefits of working with a coach many consider one of the brightest offensive minds in the NFL. “Josh is on it,” Carr said.

And having been around the NFL for nine years, Carr isn’t about to say having a weekly phone call with his coach was an automatic occurrence. “I won’t lie to you, not every time,” he said.

The conversation this week was particularly enlightening. With the Raiders coming off a loss in their season opener and Carr playing an uncharacteristically poor game while throwing three interceptions, part of looking forward to the Cardinals also meant flushing away the frustration of the loss to the Chargers.

Not just with rah-rah talk, but with practical, instructive language in which teaching took precedence over fluff. The objective was to analyze the good and the bad and talk through some of the more pertinent situations that arose.

“That hopefully we’re going to be better for,” McDaniels said.

It had been four years since Carr threw three or more interceptions in a game. He was understandably down. But as McDaniels talked, Carr simply soaked it all in. The calming effect it had was noticeable.

“That communication fired me up,” Carr said.

It goes a little deeper than that, too.

McDaniels isn’t so much giving Carr a stake in the decision-making as he is a voice in the overall process. The weekly check-ins and skull sessions create a sense of empowerment. One that leaves Carr feeling less like an employee and more like a colleague.

The relationship between coach and quarterback, especially with an offensive-minded leader like McDaniels, is extremely important. It is critical, Carr believes, that he and McDaniels continue to foster an open and frank dialogue.

“Just to make sure he and I are always on the same page,” Carr said.

The sense of ownership that creates — not only in the operation of things but also the ultimate outcome — makes the buy-in so much more valuable.

At this point, Carr is all in. And that makes moving on from a loss like the one the Raiders suffered on Sunday so much easier. Even more so when certain things are articulated in their weekly phone calls.

“I can see, just keep doing this with him, we’ll get it rolling,” Carr said.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.