Carr: Apology from NFL means nothing

Derek Carr nearly made a signature play with his legs Sunday.

Which made it all the more frustrating when the play was erased.

In training camp, the Raiders’ quarterback said he wanted to put an emphasis this season on creating more offense by running, whether to gain yards or by scrambling to extend plays.

Late in the fourth quarter Sunday, Carr was presented with an uncommon chance to make an impact as a runner — on a zoneread play.

Carr and head coach Jon Gruden said Wednesday that the play, which came shortly before the twominute warning with the Raiders ahead 1613, was a designed run with no option for Carr to pass.

Carr was to either hand off to running back Josh Jacobs or keep the ball himself — he chose the latter and ran for 12 yards and a first down. Gruden said Wednesday that it represented a “breakthrough play in some ways” for Carr, who rushed for 47 yards on 24 attempts last year.

“He chose to keep it in a critical situation, and that potentially could have been a big play in the game,” Gruden said. “It was a big play for him.”

After sliding near the sideline, Carr jumped up, pumped his fist and flexed. The celebration was shortlived, however, as officials ruled Carr had slid out of bounds, stopping the clock. That call preserved time for the Jaguars to mount a gamewinning touchdown drive.

On Monday, Gruden said the NFL had apologized for erring on that ruling. Carr on Wednesday was asked if the apology was significant to him.

“No,” Carr said. “Gosh, no. That means absolutely nothing. Like I said (after the game), I like to keep my money in my pocket. But to decide the outcome of a football game, that’s a little different.”

Gruden was given a chance Wednesday to assess Carr’s season to date.

“I’m not going to sit here and have a seasonending press conference,” Gruden said. “He’s done a lot of good things in some tough circumstances . ... But we’ve got to do better. He’s got to do better. I’ve got to do better.”

Injury report: Receiver Hunter Renfrow is on track to play Sunday against the Chargers for the first time since sustaining a rib injury Nov. 24 against the Jets.

Renfrow was limited Wednesday as the Raiders held an offsite walkthrough, but Gruden said the rookie likely will return.

“We’re going to try to play him,” Gruden said. “Perhaps let him catch a few punts. That’s another position where we’ve had a lot of turnover. So the plan is to play Hunter a little bit, get him back on the grass.”

Left guard Richie Incognito, meanwhile, did not participate in the walkthrough because of an ankle injury. Incognito appeared to be injured on the final play against the Jaguars.