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ALAMEDA, Calif. -- When Derek Carr was preparing for the 2014 NFL draft, there was one quarterback-needy team that never came calling.After drafting Carrs older brother David with the first overall pick as an expansion team in 2002, the Houston Texans showed no interest in Davids little brother, taking pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney with the No. 1 pick and then guard Xavier Sua-Filo at the top of the second round -- three picks before Derek Carr went to Oakland.Well, they never talked to me, Carr said Thursday. I never talked one word to a Houston scout, G.M., coach anything. Im just happy to be here, I can tell you that.The Raiders are even happier as Carr has developed into one of the leagues top young quarterbacks in his third season and is a major reason why Oakland (7-2) is in position to end a 13-year playoff drought.Carr has completed 66.1 percent of his passes for 2,505 yards with 17 touchdowns and a passer rating of 99.1 heading into Monday nights meeting with the Texans (6-3) in Mexico City.Hes having a heck of a year, Texans coach Bill OBrien said. Hes only thrown three interceptions, I think hes completing almost 70 percent of his balls, doing a good job throwing the ball down the field, and he can run. So, yeah, hes doing a lot. Hes got a good grasp of their offense. We evaluated all the quarterbacks coming out in that draft and we felt like he was definitely one of the better quarterbacks.They just decided against taking him. There was speculation at the time that Houston passed on Derek Carr because David struggled during his time with the Texans.David Carr was sacked 76 times as a rookie in 2002 and 249 times in five seasons. He never had a passer rating higher than 83.5 and didnt produce a winning record in any season with Houston before ending his career as mostly a backup with Carolina, San Francisco and the New York Giants.With help from a stronger offensive line and good pocket presence, Derek Carr has been sacked only 62 times in 41 career games.He can go up there and fix a problem, ESPN analyst Jon Gruden said. If theres a blitz coming on the left, he doesnt miss it; he changes the protection. He hand signals the route. He keeps the Raiders in optimum play selection, and things dont have to perfect. I mean, if the pocket isnt clean, he can just slide two feet to his right and throw an awkward-delivery release 18 yards down the field on the dime. Hes got very good pocket skills.Gruden worked Carr out at his quarterback camp before the draft and came away extremely impressed. He recalled Carr hitting a target 20 yards downfield so accurately that it broke the cameras filming the session.Carr has shown more of those skills while starting every game for Oakland since entering the league.Houston, on the other hand, has started seven quarterbacks in that span. The Texans gave Brock Osweiler a $72 million, four-year contract this offseason to fill that role but he has struggled in his first full season as a starter.Osweiler has completed just 58.6 percent of his passes and is last in the league with 5.6 yards per attempt. He has thrown only 11 touchdown passes with nine interceptions and has a passer rating of 74.1.Now they get a chance to see how much Carr has developed since he faced them two years ago in his second game as a starter.Carr was intercepted twice that game as Oakland lost 30-14 as part of a 0-10 start to his career.Now, he shows signs of reading defenses, changing plays at the line of scrimmage, he can make all the throws, he can control the pocket and his movement in the pocket so that he can make a throw, Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said. Hes a different cat and better. Hes a better guy then we faced a couple years ago.Game notes The NFL said there was no update on the status of LB Aldon Smith, who is waiting to be reinstated after his one-year suspension for substance abuse ended Thursday. Commissioner Roger Goodell must decide whether to reinstate Smith before he can make a comeback. ... DL Mario Edwards Jr. remains sidelined from a preseason hip injury.---AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this report.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Air Max 270 React Electro Green Pas Cher . Inter president Erick Thohir says in a club statement on Wednesday that Vidic is "one of the worlds best defenders and his qualities, international pedigree, and charisma will be an asset. Air Max 270 React Noir Et Blanc Pas Cher . Carey Price didnt, but he still came out on top against one of his rivals for the No. 1 job at the Sochi Games. The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was stellar in making 39 saves in his home province and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner as the Canadiens defeated the Canucks 4-1. http://www.airmax270reactpascher.fr/fausse-air-max-270-2021/fausse-air-max-270-lilas.html . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. Air Max 270 Ultramarine Pas Cher . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Air Max 270 React Eng Pas Cher . Peter Gammons, an analyst for Major League Baseballs network and website, drew the ire of hockey fans on Sunday when he criticized the two NHL teams on Twitter for their physical game the night before. Sri Lanka Crickets newly appointed womens team head coach Hemantha Devapriya is confident that the team will improve despite suffering their second successive series whitewash in the recently-concluded series against England.England are one of the leading sides in the top bracket in womens cricket. Although we lost to a strong side, the girls gave 100% and I can see some improvement, he said. The series was a good benchmark for me to gauge what standard we have to reach. We need to give them confidence, they need to learn to handle pressure situations.We have to improve in all three areas: batting, bowling and fielding and areas like game awareness, thinking ahead of the game, planning can be done but implementing it under pressure has to improve, handling situations and fitness levels. We have to increase all three areas at least by 10% so by a years time it will double. We have to be patient, smart thinking has to come they are not very smart thinkers. There are so many areas we have to improve.Among the areas Devapriya stressed upon was the improved batting. Sri Lanka made totals of 168, 173 and 161 in the first three ODIs against England, unlike in the series against Australia where they passed 150 only once in four matches.This is the first time they have reached totals of 150 plus consistently in a series and in the last match I made a point to give others a chance after talking to the selectors to see how good they are, he said. We have very far to go but one positive thing is the girls are willing and the passion is there. They are eager to learn. I am quite sure in six months they will be on another different level. The results will come gradually.Devapriya had little time to work with the team, considering he was appointed just a ffew weeks prior to the series.dddddddddddd He felt the Asia Cup in Thailand later this month would give him a better idea of where the team stood at Asian level. Among the areas he believes theres bigger scope to improve is in their batting approach.I gave them a singles target, not fours and sixes, he said. The plan was to at least to run 75 to 100 singles, but they couldnt reach that mark. They were always somewhere around 50 singles and we have to avoid a lot of dot balls. In two matches we had more than 200 dot balls, they are very hesitant to leave the crease and come out.I am really working hard on their shots range as well, using their feet to spin and getting onto the back foot for pace. They are committed front foot players and I am developing their back swing. Their bat pick-ups are very poor and generating batting power is the core area.They do a lot of hard work in the gym for their stomach and body but they must learn the art of delivering the power. How much of work you do in the gym the art of delivering the power is something which they dont use.Well-rounded changes to batting technique apart, Devapriya felt translating gym fitness into being an agile fielding unit was equally important. We have to sharpen the fielding also, he said. I am trying to do their physical fitness coupled with fielding.The diving, sliding techniques are poor, sad to say that some girls have been playing for years but they dont know how to slide. The practice systems I have made a lot of changes where everybody gets a batting turn so that when they finish a days practice they will have undergone about 250 different shots. ' ' '