ALAMEDA — The pass that Derek Carr had intercepted by Jason Verrett was greeted by groans from the home crowd, but the thought behind it was music to the ears of his receivers and Raiders coach Tony Sparano.

After the Raiders lost to the San Diego Chargers 31-28 Sunday, Carr said of the pass intended for Brice Butler, “I’d throw it a hundred times.”

Wide receiver Andre Holmes said Monday that he heartily approves of Carr’s intent, if not the end result.

“You like to hear that he’s going to have trust in you, especially on those opportunity balls where you might have to make a play over a defensive back,” Holmes said. “He trusts you to make plays, and it’s really encouraging.”

Holmes caught four passes for 121 yards and touchdowns of 77 and 6 yards. Carr was 18 of 34 for 282 yards and four touchdowns. Having played five games together, Holmes understands that Carr is aggressive by nature and that his belief in his teammates will be enhanced once they make a play for him.

“If he sees a matchup he likes, he’s going to throw it, especially if we win on that matchup,” Holmes said. “If we made a play early on, then he’s definitely going to try to look to make another big play by throwing it out there.”

Carr wears No. 4 as homage to Brett Favre, whose reputation for being a “gunslinger” was admired by his offensive teammates even as it at times infuriated his coaches.

Coincidentally, the Raiders face Carson Palmer on Sunday when they host the Arizona Cardinals. Palmer, in his 25 games as a Raider, said the same things about his receivers that Carr is saying about his current wideouts.

The Carr interception against the Chargers came on a second-and-1 play with the Raiders closing in on field goal range for Sebastian Janikowski. Carr’s postgame insistence that he’d “throw it a hundred times” was met with approval by Sparano.

“That’s what I want to hear,” Sparano said.

Sparano said the interception, as well as an earlier 17-yard laser to James Jones, demonstrated Carr’s comfort level with the offense.

“That ball was in the air three steps before James got out of his break on the back shoulder,” Sparano said. “That’s good trust. It’s trust in the receiver to be in the right spot, and it’s trust in the quarterback knowing he is going to put the ball there. In both those scenarios, the kid knew exactly what he wanted to do with the football.”

Sparano couldn’t help but unearth some of the Raiders’ unpleasant past in reminding his team that a previous solid effort against New England was followed by a face-plant in London against Miami. “We know the last time we played a good game that was a one-score game, it was against New England, and we didn’t respond very well the next week when we came out against Miami. Our guys are well aware of that right now. I made it perfectly clear to them.” Holmes said the Raiders need “a different mindset. We can learn from what we did after that New England loss.”

The Raiders plan to start the clock on cornerback DJ Hayden on Wednesday, meaning he can practice with the team for three weeks before the club determines whether to restore him to the 53-man roster. Hayden injured his left foot in late May and had surgery in June.

Sparano said the Raiders took the loss hard but responded well in terms of general demeanor. “They were wide-eyed, paid attention in meetings and weren’t afraid to be critical of themselves,” Sparano said.