Raider QB Jay Schroeder Talks Jon Gruden, Derek Carr

The rules of the game might have changed. You pick the reasons. Is it to better entertain the fan base with flashy offenses that allow players to showcase their athletic abilities? Something that has not changed is the importance of the quarterback/head coach relationship in the NFL.

Former Raiders quarterback Jay Schroeder jumped on the radio with Hondo Carpenter, Editor and Publisher of Sports Illustrated’s Raider Maven, and Clay Baker of the “Pritch & Clay” show on Raider Nation Radio (LINK TO LISTEN LIVE).

Schroeder gave his assessment on Derek Carr and talked about how important it is to have a dynamic relationship between the starting quarterback and its head coach to have success in the NFL.

“Derek Carr, he has played very well the last few years, there’s no question about it. Unfortunately, in the NFL, one of two things is going to happen, if you don’t have success, you’re going to change your head coach, or you’re going to change your quarterback,” Schroeder said. “It’s just the way it is. Let’s call it what it is.”

Schroeder’s career had many ups and downs, and from his vantage point, the reality is the only way to assess it.

“You can run left guards in and out, you can change receivers here and there, with the expectations, but when it comes down to it, the quarterback job and the head coach’s job is to win games and that’s the ultimate determining factor,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder was a quarterback at UCLA under the Terry Donahue era in the early 1980s before being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays to play baseball. After spending a few years in the minor leagues, he was drafted by Washington to play quarterback. After losing the job in Washington, he would later be traded to the Los Angeles Raiders in 1988.

Schroeder spoke about Raiders head coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr have been together for three seasons trying to turn things around. They’re close to breaking out and displaying the offense that they have envisioned since day one.

“If you look at it, and you realize over the last couple of years, let’s take the Miami game last year, you’re in a position to win that game, you should win that game, and you don’t. But you know a lot of people at the end of the season, don’t look at it and go–‘Defense blew a coverage, it was a spectacular play,’ it’s ‘Well, the quarterback and the head coach didn’t do enough.”

His blunt expression of the reality that is the National Football League brings a lot into perspective.

“If you win in the league, the quarterback and the head coach get way too much credit, when you lose, they take too much blame,” Schroeder added.

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