Derek Carr on returning for offseason workouts: ‘I’m pretty confident that will happen’

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said he’ll be ready for offseason activities.

“My goal is to make sure I’m 100 percent by the time we start OTA’s and all those things,” Carr said. “Training camp, I’ll for sure be out there 100 percent.”

The Raiders’ off-season workouts begin April 17 and organized team activities will start some time in late May or early June.

The former Fresno State star said he’s looking forward to being back out on the field with his team.

“I’m pretty confident that will happen,” said Carr, who’s celebrating his 26th birthday Tuesday. “I’ve been running around, cutting on it and jumping on it, so hopefully here soon when we start up I’ll just be out there and do everything like my teammates are doing.”

While the Raiders made the big news Monday with NFL owners approving the team’s move to Las Vegas, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie said his star quarterback will be a “full go”.

Carr broke his right leg Dec. 24 against the Indianapolis Colts. He underwent surgery three days later to repair the fractured fibula. He soon began rehabbing his knee.

RELATED: Derek Carr says he’s a “Raider for life”

“It’s going really well,” he said. “It feels really stronger now, to be honest, and just taking it really slow one day at a time and just letting it heal. With each day and each week it gets drastically better. I’m just kind of just putting the breaks on everything, going slow and make sure there are no setbacks, and so far they haven’t been.”

Oakland’s high hopes for the 2017 season lean heavily on Carr. The team went 12-3 last season when Carr played, then fizzled after his injury and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Carr has been rehabbing and training with longtime trainer Eric Mahanke. Some of the regimen Carr has gone through is stretches, resistance bands and “different types of machines.”

“I’ve been doing everything,” he said. “Hot tub to get warm to start the day. We’ve been doing absolutely everything that I can think of treatment wise. Strength wise I can do everything that I want to now. Everything that I’ve wanted to do I can do and I have been doing. I think it’s a blessing in disguise because I haven’t rested in probably seven years. Just training all the time. When I broke my ankle I had to rest and so it gave my body a break.

“To be honest, when I came back and started working out, within a few weeks I felt stronger than I had ever been.”

Carr said there are things that drives him to do well but keeps it in perspective when he does make his return.

“Just really for my faith,” he said. “Really that’s it. I’ve been blessed with talents and abilities to play this game and that’s what drives me. Those are the things that drive me to go out and make sure I’m giving it everything that I have.

“I say it this way: to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift and I don’t want to give anything less than best and that’s what drives me. That’s what keeps me motivated and keeps me going.”

This story was originally published March 28, 2017 at 8:11 AM with the headline "Derek Carr on returning for offseason workouts: ‘I’m pretty confident that will happen’."