"I am in the long run"

When the situation is difficult, it is easy to raise your arms in the air and give up, but Derek Carr refuses to do so.

At 1 -7, and just after a 34-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Oakland Raiders look in the mirror trying to figure out what they are made of. This is the second time of the season that silver and blacks have finished a match with just three points, and the team knows it must be better on both sides of the ball.

After Thursday's game, the general mood in the locker room was one of unification. The players are in the same boat and veteran safety Reggie Nelson said it was better after the match: "We were playing for the guy next door." The team has officially reached half of the regular season and the next eight weeks reveal who is ready to fight for money and black.

"I'm just thinking about that dog lying dormant in you," Carr said when asked what he hoped to see in the second half of 2018. "When things go wrong, just fight. I know I have guys that I want to put in the fox hole with me, and there are a lot of them. So in the future, when I look at each man in the eye – I tell them before every game, "you will get everything I have." I tell them every time – so I want to make sure that I look in. Everyone has eyes that go forward, it's the same thing. We build that trust and see who really wants to be part of it and who really wants to be here.

He continued, "Who really wants to turn things around? Who really wants to do the hard things that nobody wants to do? It's easy to say, "I'd rather do it somewhere else." It's easy. I think we understood that, and from now on we find out who is a Raider, honestly. I love this place and I'm not going anywhere. So, I'm in the long run, and I want to see the men get up and say, "I want to do it too."

Raiders are one of the most historic franchises in the world of sport. The challenge of the Silver and Black requires to play with courage, hardness and the desire for excellence. That's why head coach Jon Gruden and his players are proud to wear the uniform and represent the shield. He knows that others share the same desire.

"I see players after every game who want to be Raiders," Gruden said during his post-game press match. "It's the case all my life. I think the Raiders brand is exciting and I think a lot of players want to play for us in the future. "

The next few days will be spent thinking about how the team can improve and perform better over the next few steps. Thursday's loss is a hard pill to swallow, but Derek Carr and his team-mates remain united in the face of adversity.

After a weekend break, the team will return to work next week and prepare for their 10th week game against the Los Angeles Chargers.