Oakland Raider fans might be shaking in their boots after ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported that starting quarterback and future of the franchise Derek Carr suffered a finger injury that might require surgery.
Surgery isn’t a sure thing just yet, but if Carr suffered nerve damage, which could be possible considering he’s experiencing numbness in the injured finger, he might need surgery that could keep him out of the lineup for an extended period of time.
Derek Carr experiencing numbness in right ring finger. Raiders hope rehab/rest avoid surgical option. Nobody sounds overly alarmed for now.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) May 20, 2015
If Carr does need surgery, enter Christian Ponder.
The Sacramento Bee is already digging into the possibility of Ponder as the Raiders’ starting quarterback.
In 38 games with the Vikings, the former first-round draft pick had 38 touchdown passes and 36 interceptions and a passer rating of 75.9. Sports Illustrated notes that in his only full season as a starter with the Vikings, Ponder finished with 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions to help Minnesota reach the 2012 playoffs (although most of the team was carried by Adrian Peterson’s 2,000-yard season).
There’s plenty of respect for the way Ponder handled himself in Minnesota, but you know things might get bad in Oakland when you see the jokes people still make about him.
Enter former Minneapolis Mayor, R.T. Rybak.
Like Christian Ponder giving Teddy Bridgewater advice, @KurtZellersMN and I critique leg session at 9 @MPRnews
— R.T. Rybak (He/Him) (@R_T_Rybak) May 22, 2015
Good luck, Raiders.
