With no fans in the stands, everyone in the stadium and watching on TV could hear quarterback Derek Carr’s audubles.
That doesn’t mean it didn’t come as a surprise to Raiders coach Jon Gruden to hear what those audibles were.
Carr called out “Cindy Gruden, Tiger Woods” before a first quarter play, which was a Josh Jacobs run to the right.
“Derek used my wife’s name on TV in one of his audibles, so it must not have been too loud in there,” Gruden joked, via Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I’m still trying to figure out why Cindy Gruden’s name came up during the game. I’ve got to look into that. . . .
“Unfortunately for me, I could never hear him until yesterday. So I don’t know what he’s been up to at the line of scrimmage, but he better keep my wife out of it from now on.”
Carr’s had the ability to check out of plays at the line of scrimmage, but his coach didn’t seem to be accustomed to the particular manner. Of course, teams will need to come up with more such calls this season, now that the entire world has the ability to hear them clearly.
“[Everyone can hear] your snap count, so the other team gets your snap count and plays it all week,” Gruden said. “You have to change your snap count, you have to change your audibles, you have to change your hand signals. But we’re not changing quarterbacks. Derek Carr played a super game yesterday. No sacks, no interceptions. 34 points. He did a great job throwing the ball accurately in some tight windows and made some great plays for us. We’re going to have to mix up just about everything to keep people honest.”
Especially if that means keeping the coach’s wife out of it.