Derek Carr, Raiders adjusting to new ‘strange’ way of life in coronavirus-era NFL

For Derek Carr, there is a light amid the darkness he stands in at 5 a.m. every morning while waiting to take a mandatory COVID-19 test before entering the Raiders new headquarters in Nevada.

Sure, it feels weird to him that he has to text teammate Marcus Mariota during their small quarterbacks group meeting because plexiglass barriers are in the way while they’re social-distancing.

But Carr sees beyond this new, strange way of life in the NFL during the pandemic. He sees a great opportunity for he and his teammates, even as they deal with the bizareness of their new “normal.”

The Raiders may be hurriedly preparing to open their season in Carolina in less than a month, but Carr also knows their biggest opponent isn’t even listed on their schedule.

“Nothing is normal about this,” Carr said during a Zoom call Tuesday. “We come in in the morning and before you come into the door you have to do a COVID test and, like, it’s nuts because everyone in the building has to do it. So, you may get here at 5:15 a.m. but you have to wait 20 minutes before you get your test. It’s just different, man.

“Everyone’s having to do it and everyone’s got to grind through it, and someone is going to come out on top because they dominated it.”

But Raiders coach Jon Gruden admits this is by far his most difficult task he’s encountered. There’s no “Spider 2 Y Banana” equivalent of a perfect call in his vast playbook he can make right now.

“It’s tough. It’s a tough, tough, tough job right now — and it’s not just football,” Gruden said earlier in camp. “Humanity is a big part of this, you know what I am saying? Your team, your family, your fans, the city of Las Vegas, the world — you worry about everybody. There is no answer for this. … There are safety measures that we’re trying to use, but it’s unprecedented territory for you and me and everybody else.”

Second-year Raiders slot receiver Hunter Renfrow senses all of the uncertainty, but he’s not letting it drag him down.

“This COVID has thrown everybody through a wrench,” Renfrow said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of negatives that come out of it. A lot of things that keep going wrong, but I’m trying to find the positive in it. I’m trying to find the positive in everything that’s going on.

“It’s shaking up the schedule a little bit, but it’s been good. It’s been good to try new things, do new things. Some more time in some areas. I feel like it’s been a good camp so far.”

Any map app will show you the Raiders’ new headquarters and practice site in Henderson, Nev. is nearly 580 miles away from their old training camp in Napa. But it may as well be a world away from what Carr and the Raiders have been used to.

“Yeah, it’s definitely different,” Carr said. “As you know, those of you that have been in Napa, we stay literally right where we practice, eat, meet, everything. My meeting room was three doors down from my bedroom. So, everything is different.”

Now they’re having to drive in from their homes around the Las Vegas area to begin their unusual daily routine because of the virus.

The Raiders’ best-laid plans were waylaid a bit when last year’s sack leader Maxx Crosby tested positive for coronavirus, but he’s now back and the team continues to take the small steps to avoid any more cases so they can make a bigger impression on the field.

“We come in, everyone is wearing masks,” Carr said. “In our lunchroom there are spacers so no one can spit on each other. There’s clear spacers on all the lockers. When we go in the weight room and you get done using something, you got to wipe it off, disinfect it, hand sanitizer.

“To say the least, it’s strange,” Carr added. “If someone has it, someone’s in the building, we are at least taking every precaution, every step, every measure to where when you come in here, you at least know your brothers are going to take care of you.

“And so, while it’s weird and while it’s completely out of the normal, we are all going to do it to make sure because really the CDC guidelines and all this stuff changes once a week anyways. No one really knows what’s going on, so we are just trying to do our best to take care of one another.”