Raiders report: Carr’s brief exit allows for valuable experience
The Raiders got some unexpected practice during Sunday’s win on a situation they hope won’t come up again this season.
Quarterback Derek Carr took a shot to the ribs in the first quarter and had to come out. Jarrett Stidham came on in relief for one play and handed the ball off before Carr trotted back out on the field and finished the game.
While it was just one play, it gave the Raiders a chance to go through the process of quickly getting Stidham prepared to take over.
“The whole operation was good,” Stidham said Thursday after practice. “Nothing crazy, solid communication. It went well.”
After Carr took the hit, he went to the ground and was tended to by the athletic training staff.
Center Andre James went over to the sideline and quickly started taking some practice snaps with Stidham.
“We have full confidence in him from working with him throughout the preseason and up until now,” James said. “We got some snaps, and that’s pretty much the biggest difference. But we were able to get a few in on the sideline, and we were ready to roll.”
There are slight differences in the exchange between every quarterback and center. While James and Stidham have had plenty of practice together, those few reps on gameday allow for quick acclimation.
“It’s just the placement of where they line up their hands and my snap compared to another center that are going to be a little different, so it’s just new,” James said. “It was good to get a few reps in with him, and we were ready.”
The reality of football is that the backup quarterback is always one snap away from taking over. On Sunday, Stidham wasn’t sure if he would be needed for one snap or for an extended period.
“I had no idea,” he said. “My mindset was I was going in to maybe have to play the rest of the game if necessary. I had no idea what was wrong or anything. I just had to do my job.”
Injury report
Star wide receiver Davante Adams missed a second consecutive practice Thursday due to illness.
He is believed to be suffering from the flu. Defensive end Tashawn Bower also missed a second straight day of practice with an illness.
The two other players who missed Wednesday’s practice with illness, safety Johnathan Abram and defensive end Clelin Ferrell, were able to manage limited workloads Thursday.
Carr was upgraded to full participation Thursday after he was limited by a back injury Wednesday. He should be fine for Sunday’s game in New Orleans.
Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow was also upgraded to full participation after he was limited by a hip injury.
Tight end Darren Waller continues to trend in the right direction with a second straight limited practice. He missed last week’s game with a hamstring injury.
Linebacker Jayon Brown (hamstring), offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor (knee), wide receiver Mack Hollins (heel), running back Josh Jacobs (foot) and wide receiver D.J. Turner (hamstring) were all limited. There doesn’t seem to be much concern about their availability.
Linebacker Divine Deablo, however, missed a second straight day of practice with back and ankle injuries. His level of participation Friday might give an indication about his status for the game.
Get the ball
One of the improvements coach Josh McDaniels wants to see out of his defense is to find a way to force more turnovers.
The Raiders are tied with just four forced turnovers on the season.
“Clearly, we’ve attempted to try to get the ball out, but there’s a difference between actually getting it out and putting it on the ground and then recovering it and getting our hands on more footballs,” he said. “But there’s a lot that goes into that, there’s a lot of people that have to do their job right to give you opportunities to get that done.”
The Raiders only have a minus-1 turnover differential on the year because they have only given up the ball five times.
They should have a chance to attack the ball this week, as New Orleans has committed a league-high 16 turnovers.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
