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Derek Carr says he loves playing for Raiders even though not 'popular' to be one right now

NFL, Oakland Raiders

Derek Carr has tweeted that he loves playing for the Oakland Raiders and that he loves "the struggle of trying to fight back for our city when not a lot of people believe in us."

One day after Oakland traded star receiver Amari Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys, Carr tweeted:

Carr also tweeted a response to older brother Darren Carr, who had tweeted about the quarterback's track record of playing through injuries.

Darren Carr's tweet was in response to a Pro Football Talk tweet about a story by The Athletic, which reported that Derek Carr has a "fractured relationship" with his Raiders teammates.

The Athletic, citing multiple sources, reported that teammates' confidence in Carr "has waned," in part, because of film that appeared to show the quarterback crying after taking a hit in Oakland's loss to Seattle in Week 6.

The rebuilding Raiders (1-5) traded Cooper to the Cowboys for a 2019 first-round pick Monday. The Raiders also traded star pass-rusher Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears before the season for two first-round picks.

Coach Jon Gruden told ESPN's Chris Mortensen on Monday that he has no plans to trade Carr, however.

"We're not trading anyone else," Gruden said when asked by Mortensen specifically about Carr. "We're trying to stay competitive and figure out a way to compete this next game [against the Indianapolis Colts]."

Carr, who is the second season of a five-year extension that included $70 million he signed with the Raiders last year, has struggled in his first season with Gruden, throwing eight interceptions to just seven touchdowns in six games.

In the game against the Seahawks in London, he had 23 completions but averaged just 0.39 air yards on those passes. Since 2006, when ESPN first began tracking air yards, there have 3,481 instances of a quarterback completing 20 passes in a game, and no one averaged fewer air yards on their completions in those games than Carr.

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