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          Raiders GM Mike Mayock gives tepid vote of confidence to QB Derek Carr

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          • Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 25, 2020, 12:45 PM ET
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              Paul Gutierrez joined NFL Nation in 2013 and serves as its Las Vegas Raiders reporter. He has a multi-platform role - writing on ESPN.com, television appearances on NFL Live and SportsCenter, and podcast and radio appearances. Before coming to ESPN, Gutierrez spent three years at CSN Bay Area as a multi-platform reporter, covering the Raiders and Oakland Athletics as well as anchoring the SportsNet Central cable news show. Gutierrez votes for the Baseball Hall of Fame and is also a member of the Professional Football Writers of America and currently serves as the PFWA's Las Vegas chapter president. He is also a member of the California Chicano News Media Association and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Gutierrez has authored three books: Tommy Davis' Tales from the Dodgers Dugout, 100 Things Raiders Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die and If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the Raiders Sideline, Locker Room and Press Box with Lincoln Kennedy. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PGutierrezESPN
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          ALAMEDA, Calif. -- With rumors again swirling daily about Derek Carr's future with the Las Vegas Raiders, general manager Mike Mayock gave the quarterback a vote of confidence Tuesday.

          Sort of.

          "The guy completed 70% of his passes," Mayock said Tuesday at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. "He had almost a 3:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. ... We were No. 11 in the league in total yards [363.7 per game]. We were seventh in third-down conversions [44%]. We did a lot of really good things on offense last year.

          "Derek Carr played at a high level. I'm very happy with Derek Carr. What I've told everybody I've been in touch with since the day I took this job is we're going to evaluate every position every year, and if we can get better, we will. Guys get tired of me saying that, but that's really what I told [Raiders owner] Mark Davis before I took the job and that's my mantra."

          The disconnect, Mayock said, was that the Raiders simply did not score enough to reflect how well they moved the ball. The Raiders were just 24th in the league in scoring with 313 points.

          "It's defense, it's special teams, it's not scoring in the red zone and it's not scoring in goal-to-go," Mayock said. "So, to me, those are the issues."

          The Raiders have been linked to Tom Brady, should he become a free agent. And while Mayock cannot comment on potential free agents, he did say "every position gets evaluated every year. And if we can upgrade it, we will."

          Mayock was asked about the nuances of coach Jon Gruden's offense and how hard it might be for a quarterback to run it.

          "We've got a quarterback that runs Jon's offense at a very high level," Mayock said of Carr.

          Mayock was asked if he'd be surprised if another team called to inquire about trading for Carr and said the Raiders aren't actively shopping him.

          "I can't speak for anybody else. I know if I have a question about a player on another team, I pick the phone up and call the GM," Mayock said. "I don't really know what's going to happen there. We're not looking to actively move him, at all, OK? We know what we have and we appreciate it."

          Carr is coming off a season in which he set career-bests in passing yards (4,054) and completion percentage (70.4). He also had 21 TD passes and eight interceptions.

          Last month at the team's renaming ceremony in Las Vegas, Carr told ESPN he planned on "taking the first snap" in Allegiant Stadium "and I look forward to taking every snap from here on out -- until I'm done."

          Antonio Brown, whose training camp meltdowns and sideline confrontation with Mayock led to the receiver being granted his asked-for release and all but wrecked the Raiders' receiver room for the season, has been on an apology tour of late. He said recently that he had spoken with Gruden and wore a Raiders cap on his social media pages on Monday, hoping for a second chance.

          "Antonio Brown, I have very little comment about," Mayock said Tuesday when asked about Brown. "I think he had his time with the Raiders, and I think his time there is up."