Raiders bench Derek Carr, will start Jarrett Stidham for final 2 games
HENDERSON, Nevada – Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr has missed just three games in nine years, all due to injury.
Now, for the first time, he won’t play because of what coach Josh McDaniels said Wednesday were offensive performance reasons.
Not only will McDaniels start Jarrett Stidham the last two weeks, including Sunday’s home game against the San Francisco 49ers, but Carr will be inactive. Practice squad quarterback Chase Garbers will be the backup.
The Raiders (6-9) have lost two of their last three games against everyone but are out of the playoff race just a year after making the postseason.
Carr has not completed more than 55% of his passes over the past four games, and has thrown seven interceptions and six touchdown passes.
“I don’t think anybody feels like we’ve done enough offensively in some of these games,” McDaniels said. “We couldn’t put enough points on the board, so I don’t think anyone is really happy with what we did.”
By not playing Carr, the Raiders eliminate the possibility of a serious injury affecting his contract status. The club has until Feb. 15 to decide whether to release or trade Carr — who has a no-trade clause but can waive it — or take his $33 million hit in 2023. A serious injury would guaranteed that money plus another $7.5 million for 2024.
Even before Wednesday’s announcement, there were serious questions about whether the Raiders wanted to continue investing in a quarterback who has led the team to just two playoff appearances.
“We’re all responsible for where we are, and I think this (decision) is more about an opportunity to see a guy we haven’t seen play in a situation like this against some good, very good teams. . teams,” McDaniels said. “Derek has played a lot of football. There’s a lot of evaluation that’s going to happen here after the season is over in terms of how we’ve made the most progress, what makes the most sense for everybody, how we go forward.
“We knew it would be like this. Obviously, we were hoping to be in a different scenario than we are currently, but no decision has been made. Today there is no conclusion. This is the decision we came up with after talking and pondering. It would be an opportunity for us to see what we have in (Stidham).
McDaniels is more than familiar with Stidham, who spent the previous three seasons with the New England Patriots. McDaniels was the Patriots’ offensive coordinator.
Spanning three games with the Raiders this season, Stidham has completed 32 of 61 passes for 342 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. He never started.
Carr has missed just two regular season starts and one in the playoffs. He was just 165 yards shy of passing Dan Marino (35,386) for third-best passing yards through the first nine seasons of his career.
“These are not easy conversations,” McDaniels said of his conversation with Carr. “I couldn’t be more complimentary about him or the way he handled it. This is an A-1 class human being. It’s clear he’s been thinking a lot about this place for a long time, and we’ll see how it goes. I’m not going to sit here and predict the future. There is a lot that can happen. We’ll take those things one day at a time. Right now, we’re going to prepare for the 49ers.”
records
McDaniels also said linebacker Chandler Jones (elbow) and linebacker Denzel Perryman (shoulder) were placed on season-ending injured reserve. … Jones was playing better after a slow start with 4 1/2 innings and three tackles for loss. He also returned an ill-advised punt 48 yards for a touchdown in the final game two weeks ago to beat the Patriots. … Perryman leads the Raiders with 83 tackles and his 14 tackles for loss are second.
