Raiders ‘encouraged’ by Derek Carr MRI, will not re-sign Christian Ponder
It’s good news for Derek Carr and bad news for Christian Ponder.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that the Oakland Raiders are “encouraged” by the results of an MRI Carr underwent Monday.
Update: Raiders encouraged by MRI on QB Derek Carr; have informed Christian Ponder he will not be signed at this time unless there's setback
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) September 14, 2015
The second-year quarterback left Sunday’s season opener against the Bengals with a hand injury and was replaced by backup Matt McGloin. Though X-rays came back negative, the team was worried about what an MRI would show. They contacted Christian Ponder, who had been with the team during the preseason, potentially to check his availability in case Carr would not be able to play next weekend.
Carr was diagnosed with a bruised right thumb. It’s unclear at this point whether he or McGloin will start in Week 2 for the Raiders, but we do know that if the team is not planning to sign Ponder at this moment, things are looking better for Carr.