Raiders coach Josh McDaniels has benched quarterback Derek Carr in favor of Jarrett Stidham, and McDaniels said he’s looking forward to seeing what Stidham does with his opportunity.
McDaniels said today that Stidham is ready to go for the first start of his NFL career on Sunday against the 49ers -- or at least as ready as any first-time starter could be against a defense as good as San Francisco’s.
“I’ve seen a guy eager for his opportunity,” McDaniels said of watching Stidham practice the last two days. “He should be excited. As he mentioned the other day, this is an opportunity that doesn’t come along easily. I’m excited for him personally. I think he’s done a good job of handling practice the last two days. I think the team has done a tremendous job of working with him. Our job is to help him have a productive day and do the things that he needs to do at the quarterback position to help us win. We’re all hard at work at that. Jarrett’s definitely hard at work at it. I’ve no delusions of grandeur in terms of this is going to be perfect. It wouldn’t matter who we were playing with, against this defense it wouldn’t be perfect, but we’re going to strive to do our best.”
Stidham and the Raiders are 9.5-point underdogs against the 49ers on Sunday.
