Gruden says QB Derek Carr is ‘50/50’ to play against Dolphins

Jon Gruden said Friday he is hoping to have his starting quarterback available when the Raiders return to action on Dec. 26.

Derek Carr left Thursday’s overtime loss to the Chargers in the first quarter after suffering a groin injury as he rolled to the right on a third-down play inside the Chargers’ 10-yard line.

Marcus Mariota saw his first action of the season in relief and nearly led the Raiders to a victory.

After the game, Gruden said he was unsure of the extent of Carr’s injury other than to say it must have been significant to keep the durable Carr out of such an important game.

Carr was still sore on Friday morning when he met with Gruden at the team facility.

The coach didn’t have much clarity on the quarterback’s status for their next game against the Miami Dolphins.

“There is a chance (Carr plays),” Gruden said. “Being conservative right now, I would say it’s 50/50.”

Carr is far from the only player whose status is up in the air as the Raiders wind down the season.

Rookie wide receiver Henry Ruggs is expected to return from the COVID list after missing Thursday’s game. The Raiders also anticipate possibly getting back four defensive starters who missed the game.

“We’re hopeful Clelin Ferrell, Nick Morrow, Damon Arnette and John Abram can return to the lineup this week,” Gruden said. “It’s still 50/50, but I’m going to be optimistic. And Nevin Lawson missed the game last night with an illness, we’re hoping to get him back as well.”

Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow suffered a concussion and left the game after taking a big hit on a punt return.

Still alive

While the Raiders have played themselves out of a chance to control their destiny in the wild card race by dropping four of their last five games, they haven’t been eliminated just yet.

The New York Times simulator gives the Raiders a 6 percent chance. The 538 site has it closer to 2 percent. Several things would have to go right, but all scenarios involve the Raiders winning their final two games.

“Anybody that doesn’t think we’re still in this is mistaken,” Gruden said. “We need some things to go our way. It would help if some of these officiating calls would go our way too, but we’ve got to keep playing.

“We’ve got to find a way to win our eighth game. If we can win our eighth game and get a little help around the league, we can stay in until the final week of the season like we were last year. But we’ve just got to keep true to ourselves, stay with the process, and good things will happen.”

Even if the carrot of a postseason appearance were to be taken away, the final two games will still be valuable for a franchise desperate to take the next step.

Gruden said the time could be particularly valuable for young players who haven’t seen as many snaps as the team has wanted because so many of them have missed time this season.

“We’re building our squad, and unfortunately some of our first- and second-year players, guys that we’re really counting on haven’t been available a lot,” Gruden said. “We’re going to continue to fight, continue to develop and continue to work hard and try and get our eighth victory and see if somehow we can get a winning season, which would be a great accomplishment.”

Transactions

Defensive back Daryl Worley, who returned to the Raiders last week and played 37 snaps on defense Thursday night, has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

Worley has also appeared in games for the Cowboys and Bills this season.

He had seven tackles and broke up a pass against the Chargers, one of the only third-down stops the team made in the game.

Also on Friday, the Raiders sent defensive back Rashaan Gaulden and UNLV alum Javin White back to the practice squad.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.