Derek Carr firmly in charge of Oakland Raiders' offense

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Derek Carr thought back to a year ago and laughed.

Here were the Oakland Raiders with a new head coach, a new system, a new offensive coordinator, and there was Carr, the starting quarterback, in a sweatshirt, watching practice with an undisclosed injury.

Fast forward to 2016, and Carr is clearly in his element, taking charge, offering suggestions, taking every practice rep he can possibly get and loving every minute of it.

He was comfortable enough Tuesday to improvise and run something that wasn't even on the practice play sheet, much to the chagrin of defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. and his first-team defense.

It ended with Carr scoring a touchdown.

"We did something in the red zone we haven't even installed yet, but we just checked with it and went with it because we're already at that point," Carr said. "Everyone celebrated and it was awesome."

It was the fourth organized team activity workout for Carr, which is four more than offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave had him for a year ago when the offense was being installed with a pair of new wideouts -- Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper.

"Having Derek out there for these practices is more than we had last year with his injury, so we're looking to take advantage of that," Musgrave said. "He doesn't have to learn a new language. Two years in the league, two different systems, now he feels like he's got a grasp of things. He can put his own signature on the system."

Musgrave and his assistants were instructed by coach Jack Del Rio following the 2016 season to make adjustments to their way of doing things based on self-scouting over a 16-game season.

"We had a good offseason really looking into what our guys are really good at, maybe some things we liked but weren't very good at," Del Rio said. "We're going to continue to design it that way."

Carr said he is connecting with offensive teammates at an entirely new level and that instead of learning a system, he is experimenting and adding to one.

"Before the minicamp shows up, or training camp, we can work and tweak little things," Carr said. "I've been throwing the ball early on certain routes just to see what I can get away with. Games aren't on the line yet. If I think it will make something better, I want to work on it."