Khalil Mack doesn't buy Joey Bosa's diss about Derek Carr originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
One of the biggest headlines coming out of the NFL in Week 4 was Joey Bosa calling out Raiders quarterback Derek Carr for crumbling under pressure.
"We knew once we hit him a few times, he really gets shook," Bosa said via ESPN. "And you saw on [a fourth quarter] sack he was pretty much curling into a ball before we even got back there.”
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With the most sacks in the NFL, the Bears seem uniquely prepared to exploit that, if it is in fact the case. But one of the men who knows Carr best, Khalil Mack, refuted Bosa’s pot shot.
“I see a growth, especially when they’re sending a lot of people at him,” Mack said. “He gets the ball out. He’s hitting his targets at a very high rate. These guys that he got have a lot of speed and they catch the ball in stride and take off. It’s going to be a good challenge for us this week.
“I know we’re going to have our hands full come Sunday. Looking forward to the challenge.”
Defensive coordinator Sean Desai echoed that sentiment on Thursday.
“I think (Carr)’s playing at the highest level I’ve seen him play,” Desai said. “He handles it really well and you see that in a lot of games this year. He can throw the rock, he can avoid, he scramble to pass and he has his eyes up the field and they have targets they can hit at all levels of the field and he can make all those throws. I don’t see any issue with him handling any rush.”
Regardless of whether or not Bosa’s diss rings true, it does seem like a good matchup for the Bears' pass rush this week. The Raiders have surrendered 12 sacks, tied for fifth-most in the league, and are tinkering with the right side of their line to try to right the ship. On the other side, the Bears lead the NFL with 15 sacks.
So any chatter between Mack and Carr leading up to the game?
“Not this week, not this week,” Mack said. “We’re not too friendly during the week of.”
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