NAPA, Calif. — The Oakland Raiders addressed their most pressing personnel issue this offseason and got Derek Carr signed to a long-term contract extension.

It's now on Carr to show why he was worthy of becoming the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history with a five-year, $125 million deal.

After leading Oakland back to relevancy over the past three seasons, the next step for Carr and his teammates is winning in the postseason — something the Raiders haven't done since the 2002 campaign.

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Carr, who was sidelined for last season’s opening-round playoff loss to Houston because of a broken leg, discussed his NFL future and the state of the 2017 Raiders during a SiriusXM NFL Radio interview Monday with co-host Gil Brandt and me.

Coming off your leg injury, how long did it take you to feel like Derek Carr once again?

Carr: I remember sitting in my brother’s house watching the Super Bowl and they’re like, "Hey, could you have played today?" And I remember getting up and starting to do drops in the living room showing them, yes, I could have played. So I've been good for a while.

People always talk about the mental side of the injury. That was easy for me because when it's me versus me I'm going to win. My mind's not going to beat me. The physical part was the hard part, getting the stretching in and all that pain and stuff. But, I’m glad to be back.

Your 81 touchdown passes through three seasons is the fourth-highest total in NFL history along with Dan Marino, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. What’s in store for the 2017 season?

Carr: For my name to be up there with some of those guys for the first three years, that is ridiculous. That's stuff you dream of when you're little. But that means I just have more work to do because the ways those guys finished their careers is probably what we talk about — not really how they started it.

I have a lot of room for growth. I see potential for myself that I know that I can (fulfill), but I need to do it consistently to be where I want to be, which is one of the best to ever play.

Todd Downing was promoted from your quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator this offseason. How is that transition going to him now calling the plays and how do you guys work on that during the preseason so it comes off without a hitch once the games are for real?

Carr: We kind of finish each other's sentences. We just have discussions. There's decisions I make out there, whether it's checking a play here or there, and he says, "What if you would have went here? What if you would have done this?" It just makes me think. He's always making me think. That way when we hit the games, I put us in the best possible situations.

We as an offense are doing some really good things. But at the same time, we see little things where it's like, "Man, if we would have done that a little bit better, it would have been a great day." As long as we can continue to every day take a step and not make that same mistake, we're gonna be good.

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(New Raiders tight end) Jared Cook complimented you by saying you were the best young quarterback he's ever worked with. What is his addition going to mean to your offense this year?

Carr: He takes those double teams off of Crab (Michael Crabtree) and Amari (Cooper). To have that vertical stretch down the middle, someone that can create explosive plays for us in the pass game not only on the perimeter but down the middle, in the flats, by breaking tackles and things like that … Adding that to our offense is just going help those guys out.

Beast Mode has come home. Tell us what you knew about Marshawn Lynch before he arrived and what have you learned about him since.

Carr: I knew before he showed up that he ran hard. And, when he got here, I learned he ran really hard. Seeing it in person is awesome. The way he approaches the game, he’s an amazing teammate. You know he has your back. He's going to push you to be the best version of yourself every day in his own way (laughs). He's someone that you want on your football team.

You get a new quarterback in your meeting room in EJ Manuel as well as a guy going into his second season in Connor Cook. Tell us about what EJ’s bringing to the team and what growth you've seen in Connor from Year 1 to Year 2.

Carr: With Connor, it's just his poise. You can tell he's played in an NFL game — and a playoff game at that. We always joke in there. Something will come up and I'll be like, "I don’t know. Ask Connor. He's the one with the playoff touchdown." (Laughs) So we have fun. But he is someone who has great poise, throws with great anticipation and he's going to develop into a really good quarterback.

I truly believe that we have three starters in our room. EJ, obviously with his situation in Buffalo, when he showed up here I just wanted to show him how to have fun again. I joke with him. I just try and be a great friend, a great teammate. He's having a good time just picking our brains and learning and getting back to having fun in football again. There's no doubt in my mind that he's going to be starting again.

The Raiders signed Cordarrelle Patterson this offseason and not just for special teams. You can have a lot of fun with this guy on offense, can't you?

Carr: Yes we can. Whether we're throwing it to him, handing it to him, faking it to him ... Who knows? The possibilities are limitless with a guy like that, with that kind of talent. He's a first-rounder for a reason, so you know the talent's there. Now it's just incorporating him (into the system), seeing what he's good at and letting him do that.

We've handed it to him. We can fake it. We put him outside, we can put him inside to run some slot stuff. He's just another guy that creates another match-up problem for us.

Obviously you'd like your left tackle to be here, but Donald Penn is missing training camp because of a contract holdout. How's your offensive line looking after a great 2016 season?

Carr: "It's going to continue. Obviously, we love Donald and know what kind of player he is. Everyone does. We would love for him to be here, but we have to focus on the guys that are here and they are playing some really good football. I mean, everyone watched (Monday's) practice. I had a lot of time and those pass rushers that we have are pretty darn good. They’re doing a really good job of stepping up and playing spots, protecting the quarterback and opening holes in the run game. Our O-line has great coaches in (Mike) Tice and Tim (Holt). They do a good job.

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Last question for you — what has you most optimistic about the 2017 Raiders?

Carr: Our work ethic. We obviously have talent, but most importantly, we're a group of guys that just wants to work. We don't like talking about certain things. I think that that is the culture we're building here.

I hope that 20 years from now when Khalil (Mack) and I walk out together, it's a culture that stays.

Alex Marvez can be heard from Los Angeles Rams training camp 7-10 p.m. ET Wednesday on SiriusXM NFL Radio.