The Raiders haven’t named their starting quarterback for Sunday’s finale against the Chargers, but one of the candidates believes that he’s deserving of the starting job.
While Matt Leinart says he’d be supportive of Terrelle Pryor in the event the Raiders decide to go that direction, he feels that he’s done enough to get the nod with Carson Palmer out thanks to injured ribs and a bruised lung.
“I just think in this situation, I think I deserve to play, I deserve to start. Not sure what’s going to happen, but that’s all you can do -- just keep preparing, keep working hard, be here, be accountable and whatever happens, whatever decision is made, that’s what’s made. You can’t do anything about it,” Leinart said, via CBSSports.com. “So if they want to start Terrelle and evaluate him and see what he can do, then I’ll support that, and I’ll help him this week and help him during the game. But if they make me the starter, I’m just going to go out there and try to capitalize on that opportunity.”
Offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, who coached Leinart in Houston the last two seasons as well, wasn’t too thrilled with what he saw from the quarterback after Leinart replaced Palmer last weekend. He was unhappy with Leinart’s decision making on an interception and found other flaws with the quarterback’s play as well.
“He didn’t play as well as I would have liked,” Knapp said. “I wished his footwork would have been better on a consistent basis. It’s hard for any backup quarterback to come in on short notice without any reps, but that comes with the job. You got to know that going in. He struggled a little bit with the footwork and his consistency. He had it sometimes but not all the time.”
Leinart is pretty much a known commodity at this point in his career and Knapp’s not the first person to find him lacking. Pryor might not be ready for a starting quarterback job, but seeing how close he is would likely benefit the Raiders more in the long run.