Derek Carr Preseason Week 1 playing time still up in air

Aug 2, 2015; Napa, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) throws a pass at training camp at the Napa Valley Marriott. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland Raiders play the St. Louis Rams during Week 1 of their 2015 NFL Preseason and for second year quarterback Derek Carr it will be a new experience as the passer enters August as a guaranteed starter after spending the 2014 preseason fighting to earn the starter’s role from veteran Matt Schaub. Getting ample playing time throughout his first preseason in the process as the Raiders coaching staff at the time trying to evaluate who they wanted to control the reins of the offense.

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Now Carr has a new head coach and offensive coordinator that have a tough decision to make regarding their young quarterback. Do they give him similar reps to 2014 to try and develop their offense as much as possible for their second year quarterback, or do they decide to go the safe route by treating Carr like a typical starter by hiding him in first quarter scenarios for the bulk of the four preseason games? It is a tough decision to make, and one that Jack Del Rio needs to make before Friday night at the Coliseum when the team takes on the St. Louis Rams.

As of Tuesday night in Napa, Del Rio was unwilling to make a comment on how much time will Carr get. Telling reporters that decision has yet to be made by the coaching staff that still needs to have a conversation on how many snaps the second year quarterback will take against the Rams.

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“We really haven’t talked about it yet,” Del Rio said during his Tuesday press conference. “So I think we’ll talk again tomorrow and have more time to visit it as a staff and discuss it. We have not really set plans yet for the week yet. So, we’re busy in camp mode, kind of grinding with the players and installing and all of that. So we’ll talk about specifics with play time as we go forward.”

It is a good question for the staff to see how much they play Carr, but it is one that could very well be simple for the coaches to make. Carr will likely only run with the first team, so how many snaps the offensive line takes and his receivers take will largely make up his snap numbers in August.

A player who could use as many preparation reps as possible, Carr could take some snaps with the higher echelon of second team players, but it is a good guess to predict that Del Rio will be giving his quarterback more reps than he will be hiding his young field general to avoid a potential injury. Needing familiarity in a new system, Carr is going to be given as many snaps as needed to get everything down even if the coaching staff is noncommittal at this point as to how many snaps that exactly will be.

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