Team puts its faith in backup’s abilities
Every morning about 6:30, Raiders tight end Lee Smith sits down for breakfast at the team’s Alameda headquarters. He joins starting quarterback Derek Carr — who already has been there an hour, by Smith’s estimate — and backup EJ Manuel.
“Derek is the first one in the building every day,” Smith said Tuesday. “EJ saw that and said, ‘If he’s here, then I need to be here, too.’ He’s going to be just fine, man. We’re going to play as if nothing’s changed.”
That’s an admirable attitude, but in reality, much changed when Carr went down with a transverse process fracture in his back Sunday in Denver. Head coach Jack Del Rio estimated the injury will sideline Carr for two to six weeks.
This abruptly vaults Man-
uel, a first-round draft choice by Buffalo in 2013, into the spotlight. He didn’t pan out with the Bills, and now the Raiders need him to replace their franchise quarterback — amid larger offensive issues.
The Raiders have scored only 10 points in each of their past two games (both losses), after averaging 35.5 in their first two games (both wins). Now they prepare to face Baltimore on Sunday, with Manuel suddenly the starter.
Smith was Manuel’s teammate in Buffalo in 2013 and ’14. The Bills weren’t very good in ’13, when Manuel started 10 games as a rookie. Maybe he wasn’t ready at age 23 — or maybe he also didn’t have the necessary ingredients around him.
“EJ didn’t walk into this league with Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper, and Marshawn Lynch in the backfield,” Smith said, “and $40 million of O-linemen and (tight end) Jared Cook. EJ wouldn’t make excuses, and I’m not going to make them for him, but this league is a lot about timing and situation and confidence.
“If you get jarred up a little bit between the ears, because everybody in the world is talking about how you’re a bust, I don’t care how tough you are — it’s hard to keep reading that s— over and over again. …
“We all need to do our jobs and not worry about whether it’s No. 3 (Manuel) or No. 4 (Carr) in the huddle. Just do our jobs and let EJ do his job.”
Manuel stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 237 pounds, so he has a commanding presence. That didn’t translate to success in Buffalo, where his record as the starter was 4-6 as a rookie and 6-11 over four seasons.
Manuel has made only seven starts in the past three-plus seasons. He has thrown 19 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions in his pro career.
He showed good arm strength and poise Sunday in relief of Carr, leading the Raiders on two sustained drives. But Manuel will need more help from the running game than Carr received; the Raiders managed only 56 yards rushing combined in their past two games, after gaining 289 in their first two.
Guard Kelechi Osemele explained the disparity, in part, on defenses putting more players close to the line of scrimmage. That worked for Washington and the Broncos, so the Ravens figure to follow suit.
Still, Osemele was encouraged by the way Manuel jump-started the offense after Carr’s injury. Manuel completed 11 of 17 passes for 106 yards, with one interception.
“EJ was ready to go in there and help,” Osemele said. “He made some good reads and good throws. I was impressed.”
Said Smith: “I’m so stinking proud of EJ for the way he played the other day. I think he proved how much he’s grown since he came into this league.”
As for Carr, he no doubt draws hope from similar injuries to Carolina quarterback Cam Newton and former Dallas quarterback Tony Romo. They each missed only one game after suffering a transverse process fracture.
The transverse process is a bony protrusion from the back of a vertebrae bone in the spine. A fracture leads to decreased range of motion of the affected area of the spine and pain when trying to bend or twist, according to the Virtual Sports Injury Clinic.