Yahoo Finance Marcus Mariota replaces injured Derek Carr in Raiders loss to Chargers
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr left Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers after suffering a groin injury.
Carr came up limping and clutching his groin after running out of bounds on a third-down play late in the first quarter.
Marcus Mariota takes over, leads TD drive
Backup Marcus Mariota replaced Carr on the next Las Vegas possession with the Chargers leading, 7-3. The Raiders listed Carr as questionable with a groin injury before ruling him out at halftime.
The injury set up a matchup of former Oregon quarterbacks with rookie Justin Herbert leading the Chargers.
Mariota, the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NFL draft, had thrown just one NFL pass since the Tennessee Titans benched him for Ryan Tannehill in Week 7 last season. He capped his first drive with the Raiders with a pinpoint 35-yard touchdown pass to tight end Darren Waller.
He finished completing 17 of 28 pass attempts for 226 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the 30-27 overtime loss.
Big bonus on the line for Mariota
Mariota is in line for a significant contract bonus by finishing Thursday’s game.
If Marcus Mariota plays more than 60% of the snaps in any game this year, he earns a $200K incentive. With a win, that number jumps to $325K.
Additionally, by playing in 60% of the snaps in a game, his base salary increases by $625K in 2021.
Nearly $1M to make tonight.— Field Yates (@FieldYates) December 18, 2020
Tough break for Carr
Carr was in the midst of his best season as a pro, completing 68.2 percent of his passes with 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions through 13 games. Head coach Jon Gruden called the injury “significant” after the game, but doesn’t think Carr suffered a torn groin.
Thursday’s loss dropped the Raiders to 7-7, leaving them as long shots to make the playoffs.
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