Two weeks ago, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr dislocated his right pinkie finger while taking a snap from under center. He briefly left the field to get his finger checked out, and hasn’t taken a snap from under center since.
Carr operated exclusively out of the pistol and shotgun formations after returning to that game two weeks ago and all of last week, and Bob Holtzman of ESPN reported today that the Raiders are expecting to operate exclusively out of the shotgun and pistol tonight against the Chiefs.
There was a time when a quarterback playing a full game without taking a single snap from under center would have been unthinkable. In today’s NFL, that’s actually not all that noteworthy. It’s not at all unusual for a quarterback to take most of his snaps out of the shotgun, and Carr taking all of his snaps out of the shotgun won’t dramatically affect the offense.
When Carr hurt his finger two weeks ago, he returned to the game wearing a glove on his throwing hand. Last week he didn’t wear a glove but did have the pinkie heavily taped. Given tonight’s freezing temperatures, Carr might go back to wearing a glove, and it’s worth keeping an eye on his injured hand. But the shotgun formation probably won’t have a huge effect on the Raiders’ offense.
