When Raiders coach Jack Del Rio announced that quarterback Derek Carr has a transverse process fracture in his back earlier this week, he said that Carr’s absence could be “as short as two weeks.”
Thursday’s practice provided some reason to believe that could be the case. Carr is on the field and doing work for the Raiders during their practice. That work includes throwing passes, as seen in a picture from Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle. Killion adds that Carr does not look “too limited” as he goes through his paces.
Left tackle Donald Penn said, via Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area, that Carr told him he’s “very ahead of schedule” in his recovery, which is not unusual to hear from a player returning from injury but meshes with his practice work to suggest that it won’t be a lengthy absence.
The Raiders face the Ravens this weekend and then face the Chargers in Week Six. In 2014, both Tony Romo and Cam Newton returned after missing one game with the same injury that Carr is dealing with.