ALAMEDA, Calif. — Upon being named the Oakland Raiders starting quarterback as a rookie, Derek Carr got his first piece of advice from Tony Sparano, who at the time was the assistant head coach and offensive line coach.

“The day the whole thing went down, I visited with him and I said, ‘This is your football team, you’re the quarterback. We don’t have time for you to be a rookie right now. This team needs you to step up and be a leader,'” Sparano said

Sparano is now the Raiders’ interim head coach after the firing of coach Dennis Allen, but he feels good about Carr’s progression as both a quarterback and a leader.

Although he left the Raiders’ Week 4 loss in London against Miami with right knee and ankle injuries, Carr was limited in practice Wednesday but was moving well enough that he’s the likely starter when they host the San Diego Chargers Sunday at O.co Coliseum.

“This guy has got real leadership qualities,” Sparano said. “I think he learns well from his mistakes, he’s not afraid to get criticized. He’s critical of himself. Those are all good qualities to have in a young quarterback. He’ll continue to grow. He’s had some bumps along the way, but he learns from them. We’re happy with what he’s done.”

Through four games, Carr is completing 63.2 percent of his passes (84-for-133) with four touchdowns, four interceptions and a 75.2 passer rating. In 37 possessions with Carr at quarterback, the Raiders have 22 punts, five touchdowns, three field goals and seven turnovers (four interceptions three lost fumbles not involving Carr).

Carr is reluctant to break down his performance other than wins and losses, leaving that to the coaches.

“We just get graded on wins, so it’s not too good, obviously,” Carr said. “As long as we win games, I’ll say I’m doing good. Until then, I haven’t done a good enough job.”

The second-round pick out of Fresno State does feel that through four games he is more comfortable in the leadership role that Sparano pushed him forward as a Week 1 starter.

“At first it was a sensitive situation I was stepping in to,” Carr said. “Now it is my team — those are his words — and we’re past that stuff. For me, it’s great because now I can be myself. I don’t have to hold back, I guess. It’s kind of, here are the keys, now let’s go. There’s no easing in to it anymore. You’re the guy, let’s roll.”

Carr has taken the coaching change in stride.

“Any time you go through change, you can handle it one of two ways,” Carr said. “You can embrace it, or you can let it defeat you. We already talked about coach Allen and now we’re moving on. We’ve embraced coach Sparano. We’re excited. You walk out to practice and the team was excited and flying around. We played with great energy. We’re embracing the challenge and we’re excited to do it.”