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It’s a new era for the Las Vegas Raiders with Derek Carr getting benched. Jarrett Stidham is making his first NFL start against the San Francisco 49ers and Carr won’t be with the team. The nine-year starter is going to be inactive for the rest of the season and won’t be around the team.
That left Stidham as the only quarterback on the active roster. Luckily, the team stashed undrafted rookie quarterback out of California Chase Garbers on the practice squad. Now that Carr is gone, Garbers has been signed to the active roster, the team announced.
Garbers hasn’t even been active for a regular season game before so it wouldn’t be ideal for him to see snaps against the No. 1 49ers defense. He also took limited snaps in the preseason so he’s about as green as they come. Stidham has only played a handful of snaps and is going against a punishing 49ers defensive line. Garbers better be ready to play in the event that Stidham goes down.
Darren Waller & Davante Adams Talks Stidham Starting
Not having No. 4 taking snaps for the Raiders going forward will be an odd sight. Carr has been the starter for nine years and has only missed two regular season starts that were both due to injury. Stidham isn’t likely the long-term option at quarterback but the Raiders will give him a good look in the coming weeks. While Carr was a beloved player in the locker room, tight end Darren Waller knows the team has to rally around their new quarterback.
“We’ve got to take emotions out of it and realize the only way to be productive is to support Jarrett going forward,” Waller said Wednesday. “Guys are excited about him being able to get an opportunity. We’re rallying around him, letting him know that we believe in him.”
Perhaps the player most affected by Carr’s benching is star wide receiver Davante Adams. He wasn’t shy about the fact that he only decided to join the Raiders because of the quarterback. Regardless, he has a job to do and offered some of his impressions of Stidham.
“You’ve got a guy that doesn’t have really any experience out there, just kind of playing loose,” Adams said. “Sometimes that can help him. Whatever is going to allow him to play to the best of his ability, obviously we support and want to encourage him to do the best that he can.”
Stidham Discusses Making 1st Start
A couple of years back, it looked like Stidham might be Tom Brady’s replacement with the New England Patriots. The team decided to go in a different direction and kept him as a backup. Now there is nothing stopping him from starting and showing off what he is capable of.
“Obviously, you dream of playing in the NFL as a kid, and to start a game in the NFL is a dream come true,” Stidham said Thursday. “But at the same time, I’ve been preparing since my rookie year. I’ve tried to prepare the same every single week whether I was the backup or the starter. Obviously, have gotten to learn under a bunch of really good guys – players, coaches – so I’ve always tried to treat the weeks the same, and it’s no different this week. …
“Every week so far this year, for instance, I’ve been the backup, and my routine has been the same. And I’ve tried to keep it the same because I feel like if you try to overdo or overthink things, it can be detrimental, so I’ve just tried to prepare the way that I know how and the way that I feel good about going into the game with the game plan and so on and so forth.”
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