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Raiders return to Wembley www.oaklandraidersteamonline.com , once again desperate for a win Hello from lovely London town. It’s great to be back. The business of covering the Raiders match-up is at hand, but really it is a good excuse to once again explore this amazing city. That’s a luxury I have. The Raiders on the other hand, have far more serious business on which to focus – getting a win.The last time the Raiders traveled to London was 2014. Current high paid veteran starters Derek Carr and Gabe Jackson were rookies then. And they came to Wembley winless at 0-3 on the season. Carr was desperate for his first win as a pro quarterback. He wouldn’t get that win. Carr would leave the game with an injury, replaced by Matt McGloin and the Raiders would lose to the Dolphins to fall to 0-4. Immediately after the game, third year head coach Dennis Allen would be fired, replaced by interim head coach Tony Sparano (RIP) and the team would go on to lose six more before Carr would get that coveted first victory.Carr is now a fifth-year quarterback. He and the Raiders are back at Wembley today, preparing for their sixth game of the season and once again desperate to put a win on the board.This time they aren’t winless, but they aren’t far off. They lost their first three games just as in 2014, then they pulled out a win in overtime against the Browns before failing in spectacular fashion to the Chargers in LA and now sit at 1-4. Derek Carr is feeling the pressure to put a winning product on the field.“It means a lot. Just to have a win. Especially when you have a bye week. It’s always good to win on a bye week, make the corrections and then you feel the momentum of ‘hey, we won the last game, let’s take it over and carry it over to this one,” said Derek Carr. “We know as a team we’re in a spot where we need to win. We need to win this game and our sole focus on the plane ride over, our sole focus all week is whatever it takes, let’s just win this game. Just like it is every week, but I think that heightened sense of urgency has been good for our young guys Oakland Raiders T-Shirt , it’s been good for our team.”While Carr is approaching this with a sense of urgency, his veteran receiver is taking a page out of his former All Pro quarterback’s book, in saying R-E-L-A-X. “I think if you’ve been in this league long enough you’re going to experience the ups and downs, the highs and lows,” said Jordy Nelson. “if it’s anything in the middle of the season going through a four game losing streak which I experienced a couple years ago, you know there’s no reason to panic, there’s no reason to change everything you’re doing, you got to trust in what you do and you got to stay true to what’s going on and you just got to work. And eventually it will turn. That’s what happened then, and I think that’s what will eventually happen here. You just got to continue on that grind, continue to put in the time and the effort and stay positive, stay focused and just keep it week by week.”With all due respect to Jordy, that Packers team wasn’t going through a re-build. They had a rough patch and they had Aaron Rodgers. No offense to Derek Carr, but he ain’t ARod.Jordy is right that panicking won’t help matters. But simply staying the course and expecing things will turn around is for proven teams. This squad is cobbled together and trying to find its identity. They’ve been in desperation mode for several weeks now. That continues Sunday at Wembley.Follow @LeviDamienFollowing league wide trend, Raiders coach Jon Gruden limits Derek Carr to 13 preseason snaps For the third game of the preseason, it is common to see the first unit play to halftime and even a series into the third quarter. However, extended playing time for the starters has not been Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders’ plan this preseason. Quarterback Derek Carr has played in just two of the preseason games Oakland Raiders Hats , didn’t play against the Los Angeles Rams, and has played in just one series in each of the games resulting in a total of 13 preseason snaps. Maybe Gruden is worried about Carr getting hurt considering the situation at tackle right now and Carr’s history that includes breaking his leg, finger and bones in his back over the past two seasons. Or it could just be that Carr is entering his fifth season as a starting quarterback and doesn’t need to waste his time in the preseason. After Friday’s game, Gruden did give a brief explanation into why Carr was pulled so early against the Green Bay Packers. “I have seen enough. There isn’t much more for me to see,” Gruden said. “The battle for us is who is behind Derek [Carr]. I wanted to get Connor [Cook] first team all offensive line for a couple series. But we have a pretty good idea who our starters are on offense. I was really pleased with Derek [Carr] on how he started the game.”Some may be skeptical of this approach, but not Carr because of the intensity that Gruden brings to practice each and every day. “Obviously, it’s different because I don’t play as much as before, but we get so many things done in practice,” Carr said. “It’s very tough, it’s game-like and the kind of things I need to see and feel. Going out there today and being able to get hit a couple times, move in the pocket and find throws. You don’t need too much of that in the preseason, but just to get a few plays in here and there is good. If we practice at speed the way that we do, I feel that you can go out there in preseason and play a couple plays and be ready for the season.”Carr also sees no reason to worry about his rapport with his receivers. “We get a lot of practice reps, especially the way Coach Gruden designs his practices, it’s all around the quarterback,” Carr said. “He’s setting it up so I can be the most prepared in his mind Oakland Raiders Hoodie , it’s not my mind. I feel good about it and if the coach feels good about it, you can guarantee the players feel good about it. I feel in good rhythm, I feel in synch with those guys. I have guys that are easy to throw to, they’re easy to talk to, so it makes it a lot easier.”On a more macro-level, limiting the starters snaps has been popular around the entire league. The Packers didn’t play Aaron Rodgers and the Rams didn’t play their starters in Week 2 either against Oakland. Games that you would have previously expected to see starters.Carr thinks the new strategy is due to the loss of important starters to injurybefore the regular season. “Well I think that you’re seeing a lot of guys getting hurt,” Carr said. “You see a lot of key guys getting hurt. I turned the TV on yesterday and Tyrod Taylor, a starting quarterback, dislocates his finger, so is it necessary? All those things, it’s tough. It’s for everyone above me to decide. I planned on playing a lot but you know coach said, ‘That was good.’ You start to see the trend which is to not play people, and I think that’s going to be a trend that sticks. They’d rather have their guys week one of the regular season.”Limiting Carr’s snaps until Week 1 kicks off in Oakland against the Rams could prove to be a wise move. Everyone remembers what the team looked like without Carr two years ago in the playoffs and for a few weeks last season. It wasn’t good. So everything must be done to limit Carr’s injury risk as he is the one who will determine the franchise’s success.