In one of the few developments that could make the Oakland Raiders an interesting team to watch in the final weeks of the season, coach Dennis Allen says he’s planning to get backup quarterback Terrelle Pryor some playing time.
Allen stressed that he is not considering benching Carson Palmer, but he said on Friday that he believes the Raiders would be well served to put Pryor on the field and see what he can do.
“I think the biggest thing is to start getting him in a game, a little bit of game action,” Allen said, via CSNBayArea.com. “I’m not ready to say that he would be a starter. I think that Carson, obviously, he’s made a couple of mistakes the last couple of weeks but yet, Carson’s been one of the reasons why, specifically, earlier in the year, why we had a chance in certain games. So I’m not down on Carson at all. Obviously, we want to see some of these younger guys play.”
At this point, there’s no reason not to give a shot to Pryor, the former Ohio State star whom the Raiders acquired with a third-round pick in last year’s supplemental draft. The only question is whether they’d give him a series to play quarterback in their base offense, or whether they’d use him as a wildcat quarterback or at another position. Pryor is a good athlete who was as likely to make plays with his feet as with his arm in college.
Pryor hasn’t been on the field for a single play this season and was only on the field for one play last year, a trick play that was botched before Pryor could get the ball. With the Raiders at 3-10 and eliminated from playoff contention, Pryor ought to see some extended playing time in the Raiders’ final three games.