Derek Carr left the Raiders’ Week 4 loss to the Broncos in the third quarter with a back injury, and Oakland’s cornerstone player will undergo an MRI Monday after having X-rays done during the game. However, Jack Del Rio offered an early assessment.
The third-year Raiders coach said Carr was experiencing back spasms, adding (via Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, on Twitter) he’s not concerned long-term about the injury. Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports back spasms are the issue here (Twitter link). Carr did not confirm Del Rio’s diagnosis and said postgame (Twitter links, via Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com) he’s in “a lot of pain” currently. But the recently extended quarterback is optimistic he can play in Week 5 against the Ravens.
This marks the second straight season Carr missed at least a key portion of a Raiders game in Denver, with the passer, of course, not playing during the team’s previous trip to Colorado because of his season-ending broken leg injury. This time around, EJ Manuel came in to relieve the ailing starter. He fared better than Connor Cook or Matt McGloin did, driving the Raiders into Broncos territory on a potential game-winning drive before throwing an interception that sealed the road defeat.
The Raiders signed Manuel to a one-year, $800K deal. He would be the next man up if Carr cannot play against the Ravens.
I wasn’t hopeful when Manuel took over but was pleasantly surprised…if the rest of his guys would’ve used a little more stickum they might’ve won that game
The Raiders do not look good…