Getty Derek Carr, Nathan Peterman & Jon Gruden of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Las Vegas Raiders are fresh off the bye week and are already starting to see the team get a little healthier. Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota was placed on the injured reserve to start the season. He recently returned to practice but the team kept him off the active roster for a couple of extra weeks. The Raiders announced that Mariota is finally back on the active roster ahead of Week 7.
We have signed DE David Irving to the practice squad and activated QB Marcus Mariota from Reserve/Injured List.
The Raiders made Mariota the highest-paid backup quarterback in the NFL in the offseason so it’s a welcome sight that he’s returning. He’s still going to be Derek Carr’s backup, who is playing very well. That said, it’s very important to have a capable backup so the Raiders will be happy to have him back.
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Do the Raiders Have Plans for Mariota?
While it’s good news that the Raiders have a solid backup quarterback in place in case anything happened to Carr. However, it’s possible that the team has interesting plans for Mariota.
“We’re trying to get him 100 percent medically because when he is 100 percent he brings a little different dynamic to the table,” general manager Mike Mayock said last month.
The Raiders have put their full trust in Carr and he has started the season well so it’s highly unlikely the team is planning to have Mariota take over as the starting quarterback. Despite that fact, it sounds like the Raiders might be utilizing Mariota in other ways.
The team is paying him a lot of money this year so it would make sense if they tried to extract some value from him. Seeing Mariota play a Taysom Hill-type role could be very interesting. He’s a very different type of athlete but Mariota is athletic and can make plays with his feet. It wouldn’t be that surprising if Jon Gruden got creative and tried to take advantage of the fact that Mariota brings a different skillset than Carr. It might not happen immediately but Mariota could see the field in some instances during the season.
Prognosis Not Good on Bryan Edwards & Richie Incognito
With the bye week wrapping up, there was hope the Raiders could get a number of players back from injury. Wide receiver Bryan Edwards and left guard Richie Incognito have both missed a number of games this season. Unfortunately, it sounds like they could miss more. According to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, it’s a “longshot” either guy plays on Sunday versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Raiders were able to beat the Kansas City Chiefs without either of them so they aren’t dead in the water. That said, Incognito is a Pro Bowl-level talent when he’s on the field and is arguably the best pass-blocking guard in the NFL. Edwards is a rookie but the Raiders are really high on him. He was named a starter to start the season and has a very bright future. The team will be really happy when he can get back on the field.
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