Jon Gruden wouldn't come out and say it, but if Derek Carr will start against Miami barring setbacks to a groin injury.
Derek Carr got in another day of practice Thursday and is expected to start against the Miami Dolphins, although coach Jon Gruden stopped short of making it official pending another day of rehab.
In a video conference following practice, Gruden said the plan was to have Carr active along with Marcus Mariota, who has also practiced this week after playing well in a 30-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Carr was listed as a full participant in practice and wasn’t given an official injury designation. Barring a setback, he will start.
The Raiders (7-7) host Miami Dolphins (9-5) Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium in their home finale, with the Dolphins fighting for a playoff berth and the Raiders hoping to win out and have an unlikely series of events propel them to a wild card berth.
Gruden is allowing himself some wiggle room on Carr’s status for competitive advantage reasons regarding Miami’s preparations as well as the knowledge that Carr’s injury could worsen with any sudden movement.
“These groins are funny. You saw what happened Thursday night,” Gruden said. “He’s running to his right and he’s out the rest of the game. I’m not going to say anything other than I’m optimistic, but I’m not a mind-reader. I just know that he had an injury that caused him to miss the game last week and I respect that. He’s a tough guy, man. I’m optimistic he’ll be ready to go, yes.”
Carr has started all 46 games Gruden has coached since returning to the sideline in 2018. In his seventh season, Carr has missed only two regular season games in his career.
Asked whether Carr had anything left to prove in terms of readiness, Gruden said, “I’m going to make sure he’s OK. I’m going to make sure physically he has a chance to wake up in the morning and go through his rehab one more day and do all the things he needs to do against one of the top defenses in the league. So we’ve got to do what’s right, Mariota is also performed well. We’ll have a quarterback under center and were excited to play a really good football team.”
With Carr the likely signal caller on offense, the Raiders will need to determine a defensive signal caller with the news that middle linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski was joined on the COVID-19 list by Nicholas Morrow, who missed the Chargers game with a concussion.
That would leave Cory Littleton,, Raekwon McMillan and Kyle Wilber as available linebackers against Miami.
Kwiatkoski and Morrow join a COVID-19 list that includes safety Erik Harris and cornerback/safety Daryl Worley. While those four won’t be available, cornerback Damon Arnette and Johnathan Abram, both out last week with concussions (Arnette has missed the last two) were full participants in practice should be available.
Wide receiver Henry Ruggs III returned to practice and according to Gruden “looked pretty good. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. We’re hopeful he can be available for the game.”
Gruden hopes to have offensive coordinator Greg Olson back on the sideline after missing the Chargers game while under COVID-19 quarantine, but secondary coach Jim O’Neil will miss the game for the same reason. Secondary assistant Taver Johnson will assume O’Neil’s game day role.
The only non-COVID-related player who was declared out oof the game is Clelin Ferrell with a shoulder injury, while Maurice Hurst is questionable with a calf injury.
It turns out the Raiders are getting some production from a third round draft pick after all.
The problem is it’s coming from someone on the Dolphins.
Lynn Bowden Jr. was the first of three third-round picks by the Raiders in 2020 at No. 80 overall. He was followed by wide receiver Bryan Edwards of South Carolina at No. 81 and Syracuse linebacker Tanner Muse at No. 100.
He’d been an option quarterback at Kentucky and the Raiders wanted to make him an all-purpose running back.
Edwards, by all counts, was a standout from the start as a jump-and-catch physical wide receiver. Bowden and Muse struggled. Each were facing position changes, Bowden to running back and Muse going from safety linebacker.
General manager Mike Mayock told the media having three third-round picks was like stealing because it could net three starters, but that was mostly just Mayock exaggerating. Because he also said at the time that Bowden and Muse both had to learn new positions, so it was clear he never expected either to be a starter immediately.
The Raiders grew disillusioned enough with Bowden that they shipped him to Miami for a fourth-round draft pick, basically accepting a loss. Mayock insisted it was strictly a “football” decision, having nothing to do with Bowden’s level of dedication or seriousness to his craft.
Muse started the season on injured reserve and won’t play at all this season. Edwards? He opened as a starter but hurt his knee and saw other receivers pass him by in the rotation.
Edwards has eight catches for 131 yards in 12 targets.
Bowden started slowly with the Dolphins and has operated mostly as a gadget player, not really a running back, and not really a split-wide receiver. Yet in the last three games, Bowden has 17 receptions for 160 yards.
“He’s got to play because they’ve had some injuries,” Gruden said. “They’re using him in the slot, using him in some gadget plays and we’ll see if we see Lynn. I’m happy for him. I’m glad he found a role.”
Dolphins offensive coordinator Chan Gailey told reporters he likes the way Bowden evades tacklers.
“You can watch kids that come through today and which ones played tag growing up and which ones didn’t play tag growing up,” Gailey said. If you played tag, then you know now to make a guy miss. He’s played a lot of tag, I guess, because he can make a guy miss.”
