Last Thursday night, Saints quarterback Derek Carr embarrassed himself (frankly) by being too demonstrative in his effort to blame teammates for bad plays. On Wednesday, four days before a game against the Colts, Carr tried to talk his way through his behavior during the loss to the Jaguars.
“Man, 10 years ago, when I got into the league every quarterback was cussing everybody out,” Carr told reporters on Sunday, via John DeShazier of the team’s official website. “And now, I didn’t even cuss nobody out and everyone thinks that everyone is mad at each other. So times are definitely changing. I can tell by the gray hairs in my beard, and by people getting upset by a quarterback yelling.”
It’s not just a quarterback yelling. It’s a quarterback repeatedly acting in a way that transfers blame to others when things don’t go well. That’s what he did on Thursday night. That’s the problem.
“I do have to temper my emotions,” Carr admitted. “I think, with a little bit of the frustration of losing, I’ve let that get the best of me, if I’m honest. Usually, no matter a mistake, I’m super positive. But I also realize how good we can be, and I won’t change the demand of excellence from myself, from my teammates. But there is a better way to do it, I think.”
Yes, there is. Because the way he’s been doing it will not enhance his relationships with teammates.
“Maybe there’s a different way to go about certain things, and honestly, [receiver Chris Olave] may have caught the brunt of something that wasn’t even about him,” Carr said. “And the same to me, I’ve been yelled at by players and coaches in my career. But then, you talk about it.”
Talking about it is fine. Acting as if it’s someone else’s fault when the cameras are capturing every movement and facial expression is not.
We’ll see whether Carr has learned from his mistake. It sure doesn’t sound like he fully gets it, because he said nothing on Wednesday about the reality that cameras capture everything and people will draw conclusions based on what they see — and that he needs to be cognizant of that.
The unmistakable conclusion last Thursday night was that Carr was blaming others for the things that weren’t going well for the offense. That is a bad look for Carr, and it needs to stop before his teammates get to the point where, to a man, they hate him.
If I’m honest.