The Sports Xchange

NAPA, Calif. — If it’s all about the quarterback, the Oakland Raiders should feel much better about their 2015 team simply because of the presence of Derek Carr.

Through nine training camp practices, barring an injury calamity, there is nothing to suggest another late quarterback switch such as the Matt Flynn-to-Terrelle Pryor and Matt Schaub-to-Carr U-turns over the past two seasons.

It’s Carr’s team, with Christian Ponder and Matt McGloin competing to be the backup and the Raiders fervently hoping neither has to play.

Assuming Carr holds up, it’s the most stable the Raiders have been at the position since Carson Palmer opened the season in 2012. Before that, you have to go all the way to Rich Gannon in 2004 and the neck injury that ended his career.

Palmer wanted no part of continuing with the Raiders and it’s clear the franchise needed a young quarterback to lead the charge into the future, and it’s clear Carr is that man.

Carr’s performance just past the halfway point of training camp has been solid, if unspectacular. Most important, he has made every throw from just about every distance, throwing both bullets and touch passes.

Considering Carr’s three-week absence from the offseason program for an undisclosed injury — ESPN reported a right ring finger issue and the possibility of surgery — it’s given Raider Nation a chance to breathe a sigh of relief.

Carr participated in the Raiders’ final minicamp from June 9-11 and has been working with his receivers off-site ever since, but no doubt the medical staff wanted to see a heavy workload in training camp. So far, so good.

“When you take time off, it’s going to be awkward,” Carr said. “It took a couple of days to feel right, but those live reps are what we’re getting here in training camp, in pads, with the live rush coming. It took me a couple of days to get the timing down. There will always be little mistakes, but the timing feels right.”

Carr was thrown a curve ball in one sense in that the Raiders changed offensive systems from Year 1 to Year 2, with Bill Musgrave taking over for Greg Olson at offensive coordinator. But the experience of having started 16 games trumps having to learn new terminology, Carr believes.

“Once you go through an NFL season and learn a playbook, like Oley’s (Olson), it puts a lot on a quarterback,” Carr said. “With him throwing all that at me, putting all that on me, helped me learn so much about the NFL that when I had to learn a new system, it wasn’t like I was starting from scratch.

“I’m at a level when I could understand why we were doing certain things. That’s the biggest difference.”

Carr’s influence is so pervasive that when head coach Jack Del Rio was asked about the competition for backup quarterback between McGloin and Christian Ponder, he immediately brought the conversation back to Carr.

“Obviously having Derek lead the way, he provides a great example, even as a young player, of what it should look like,” Del Rio said.

The prevailing notion that a player should make the biggest leap in improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 has Raiders players hoping for big things from Carr, including 18-year veteran safety Charles Woodson.

“He’s a pro, he’s a leader. I think the guys on the team recognize him as a leader,” Woodson said. “You go over to the sidelines, he’ll sometimes come over and ask questions about what I see. He’s so hungry, thirsty for knowledge and he can make all the throws. We’re looking for him to be dominant this year.”

–When running back Trent Richardson missed the opening of camp on the non-football illness list, the Raiders’ policy of not disclosing injuries helped spawn speculation that the former No.3 pick was being held out for being overweight.

Richardson dispelled those rumors by disclosing he was out with pneumonia.

“I was nowhere near overweight,” Richardson said. “I came in at 222 pounds — lower than they asked me to come in. When I took the conditioning test, I killed it.”

Richardson is running well behind Latavius Murray, a clear leader as the lead back. He began to get practice reps just as Roy Helu Jr. and Michael Dyer began missing practices with undisclosed injuries.

“I’m very driven,” Richardson said. “First of all, because I’ve got kids. Second, I’ve got to prove myself. Everyone wants to put pressure on me, but pressure is greatness. These people want me to be great.”