Terrelle Pryor has not started a game for the Oakland Raiders since Nov. 10 against the New York Giants. His final shot in 2013 will come on Sunday, as the team has announced the former Ohio State star will start against the Denver Broncos at home.
Backup quarterback Matt McGloin looked sharp when he replaced the injured Pryor several weeks ago. However, the good fortune ran out and the Raiders have lost each of their last five games. With Week 17 being a meaningless game, Pryor’s agent Jerome Stanley believes head coach Dennis Allen is rooting for Pryor to fail so he can try to save his own job.
“I think they’re putting him in hopes that he fails,” Stanley told CSN Bay Area’s Fallon Smith and Scott Bair on Monday. “That’s what I think coach is doing. I think they’re putting him in hopes that he has a bad game, so he can then justify the Matt McGloin situation. I think that’s what’s going on, I do and it’s ridiculous…
“You have to understand the coach is putting him in, he doesn’t want him to look good. And you can write that. He doesn’t want him to look good because, if he looks good this week, it makes the past five weeks look like a bad decision. (Allen) doesn’t want him to look good, he wants him to look bad. That is what is going on.”
Stanley contended that Pryor should have been inserted back into the starting lineup after his MCL healed so he could continue to develop. Before suffering the injury, Pryor had thrown five interceptions and zero touchdowns in his last three starts. His quarterback rating this season is 66.0.
Perhaps realizing that an agent complaining about his player starting a game is pretty ridiculous, Pryor decided to issue an apology.
“I apologize for the recent comments toward the Raiders organization,” he wrote on Twitter. “That’s not what I’m about. I’m thankful for this opportunity given to me by this great organization and the phenomenal fans. I’m very excited to play with my teammates Sunday! We hope to make you fans proud.”
Even if Pryor and his agent believe Allen is trying to make them look bad, the best way to counter that would be to light it up on Sunday. Ranting about it makes it sound like Stanley is expecting Pryor to have a crappy game.
Thanks to LBS tipster David
