by As of this post, Derek Carr is still a quarterback for the Raiders.
But that should change in the coming days, as Las Vegas is likely to release Carr before his $40.4 million in collateral starts next week.
It’s the end of a nine-year tenure with the franchise for Carr, who was benched in December after the Raiders were eliminated from postseason contention. That decision reverberated in the locker room, according to running back Josh Jacobs.
“It was definitely weird, man,” Jacobs said on Thursday’s episode of PFT Live. “Just like, you can see signs that something was about to happen. The season we were having – we lost the last game [to the Steelers] where we knew we weren’t going to make the playoffs because we had to win. We knew our playoff hopes were over.
“So we already knew they were going to shake some things up because at that point they had nothing to lose. But we didn’t know it would be like this.”
Jacobs said players began to understand what was going on when Carr wasn’t in the meetings. Then everyone rallied around Jarrett Stidham, who ended up performing well in the Week 17 loss to San Francisco.
“Stiddy stepped into that role and I watched Stiddy literally transform from a guy who barely spoke to a guy who was vocal and was a leader,” Jacobs said. “I was just like OK, let’s ride with him.”
But Jacobs began to notice that things weren’t right within the team well into December. In fact, he said it was the week nine loss to the Jaguars that was the biggest red flag signaling what was to come later in the season.
“I remember New Orleans beating us [the week before]. They beat us, they shouted at us. Shout out to them,” Jacobs said, noting that the Jacksonville game the following week was different. “We blew it. we had lost, we lost it by less than a touchdown. So I was like, clearly, we’re not figuring it out. Whatever we’re missing, we’re here, but we’re not there. We’re not close enough.
“It’s kind of when I was like, man, I don’t know how this season is going to go.”
That didn’t go well, and now the Raiders are poised for some major changes heading into 2023. Jacobs, a pending free agent, may or may not return after leading the league in rushing. But with an “odd” outing, Carr is sure to move on shortly.
Josh Jacobs: Derek Carr’s situation was ‘weird’ in locker room originally featured on Pro Football Talk
